Dark Daylight Book One: Bright Shadows
by TheHiddenMuse
Summary: Magda Alexandra Szlesky is a new student at St. Vladimir's academy. What really makes her unique is that she's a royal Moroi training to fight for the greater good.Learning to figt is hard enough. Learning Magic? Impossible when you know what you weild.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Two races of vampires walk our world. The Moroi are alive and wield elemental magic, while the Strigoi are undead and evil-feeding on the innocent to survive.

With the new and young Queen Vasilisa juggling her time between an education and her throne, the Moroi court is in chaos. The Strigoi Race has seized this opportunity to test this new court's strength and thus decided to rebuild their army. If the Moroi and Dhampir races want to avoid total catastrophe, they are going to have to find new ways to save themselves. The only problem is that the old traditions hinder the court from making new decisions.

Magda Alexandra Szelsky is a new student at St. Vladimir's academy, an ex-student of the St. Lourdes academy in Miami, Florida. Why she moved, no one knows... But what really makes her unique is that she's a royal Moroi training to fight for the greater good, despite the taboos of Moroi combat. All she wants to do is graduate and become assigned to her majesty. Her only problem is that she bites a lot more than she can suck. Now she has to juggle Moroi AND Dhampir classes, The Drama of Drama, Royal Backstabbers in the academy, and the brand new baseball team: The St. Vlad's Vamps.

Learning to decapitate and stake is hard enough. Learning Magic? Impossible-ESPECIALLY if you dont know what element you wield.

How does one follow_ "They come first."_ when "they" is one's self?


	2. Chapter 1

"Come on! Punch harder! Remind the school why we let you take these classes!"Guardian Schmidt yelled from the side lines as a Novice came at me with his left fist. His hand connected with my shoulder, knocking me flat on my ass. I thought this guy was a little tough for a new student, but the instructor did not give me a break.

"You're weak, spineless, Little Girl. Queen Vasilisa made a mistake. Maybe you shouldn't train with the Novices." He spat. Schmidt was pissing me off. And, trust me; a pissed off Magda was something you did not want to spar against. I used both legs and kicked the poor guy square in the chest. He staggered back. I used that brief imbalance as a chance to pounce and pin him onto the mat.

"Well done, Szelsky. You too, DaVinci. Both of you get A's for today" Schmidt applauded.

The bell rang. The novices headed out of the door toward the locker rooms.

"Nice job, newbie. "The boy smiled and held his hand out. "The name's Leonard, Leonard DaVinci. You can call me Leo if you'd like, or… "

"Ginger, Ron, or ninja turtle" a tall Dhampir with scruffy, light brown hair, coal black eyes, and a mischievous smile interrupted.

I giggled, "Ninja turtle?"

"Yep, like the blue one. The more 'serious' one."

Leo sighed "I'm sorry for… him. He's a bit of a geek."  
>Scruffy hair huffed "am not!"<p>

"Guys its fine! They called me Mikey back at 'glades."

"Dude you watch Teenage mutant ninja turtles? You have just gained epic status. The name is Raymond, Ray for short." He bowed gallantly.

"Nice to meet you" I said.  
>It felt kind of weird introducing myself like that. Back at the Everglades academy, aka St. Lourdes, everyone would kiss on the cheek the moment we wanted to say hi. Then again, it was a regional custom I've only seen in Latin American countries and Cities in which the Hispanic minority was actually a majority, like Miami. Even though I was half- Russian, half Turkish, I've always felt like a full blooded Latina. Spanish is my second language, not Russian or Turkish. I guess it was because my parents met in Mexico while on business. They got married and lived in Culiacan for ten years until I was three and my brother eleven. Then we moved to Miami. But after everything that I've gone through, I was glad to move away from my life for a few years.<p>

"You're not too bad for a freshie." Leo grinned as he ruffled the few strands of hair that got loose from the bobby pin holding my bangs. I rolled my eyes.  
>In turn I tousled Leo's short, military styled, auburn locks. "Whatever, ginger-boy" I replied coyly, "You're a freshman too."<p>

"But I doubt many freshmen can take on the Great Leonard DaVinci."

"Don't get such a big head Leo," Ray scoffed. I could detect a faint New York accent in his voice.

"Hey, I've been known to beat up senior novices in the eighth grade."

"Eh, lucky shot."

"Against Castille, Ashford, and Cortez?"

"Well, you did get your ass handed to you by Rose Hathaway…."

"SHUT UP! Rose had Belikov for a teacher; the guy's practically a god"

"Sounds like someone has a crush…"

I smiled, "Well if you ladies are done here, I'm going to change"

"Sure we'll see you at lun- Oh my god!" ray shouted.

"What is it?" I inquired, befuddled as to what could have made him react like that.

"You're Moroi!" he answered.

"But you're so tan. And you have boobs!" Leo added.  
>Ray and I stared at him. An awkward pause passed over us.<p>

"So?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"This is Beginner's Guardian combat techniques. Why are you here?"

"Well, Kirova wouldn't let me level up to intermediate because I'm failing elemental fundamentals…"

"This is a Dhampir class though, since when are Moroi joining in?"

"I don't know; I had these classes at St. Lourdes…" Since Miami wasn't usually occupied by Moroi and there were limited classes at the campus, my parents decided the best way i would learn to defend myself was by joining the novices. The restricted curriculum prevented the court from interfering. I didn't mind, of course.

"That's cool; we can always use more Moroi fighting with magic." Ray smiled.  
>I bit my lip. The only reason I was failing the elements class was because… well I didn't specialize.<p>

Leo didn't seem to notice. "I think we should shower and continue this conversation during lunch." I silently thanked him for changing the subject; I didn't want people I've only just met sticking their noses where they don't belong.

"Oof, Leo. You should first ask the girl out before you invite her into the shower..." Ray teased.

"Dude!" Leo blushed. "I don't even know your name."

"Magda Alexandra Szelsky." I told him.

"Szlesky, as in Lord Trenton Szelsky's Daughter? Princess Ariana's Granddaughter?" Ray's dark eyes grew wide.

"I'm not like the other royals… If that's what you mean." In truth I was only half royal. I didn't know my mother's side of the family: she never elaborated anything beyond the fact that they were Turkish. But it was too late to ask her about it anyways…

"Neither am I. My mom's a Voda." Leo shrugged. It was rare for Moroi women to fall in love with Dhampirs, especially if she was from a royal family. "But I don't expect royal treatment; the parties aren't worth it either."

"Ugh. You're such a bore. If I were a royal, I would party like there is no tomorrow." Ray mused. I had to agree with him on that one. Being a South beach chica, parties were practically engraved into my system.  
>The guys started bickering yet again….<p>

"Seriously guys? Can I change, and then meet you guys later?"

"Sure. We'll be at the quad."

I took a quick shower and changed into an aquamarine top and a white skirt, clothing more suitable for the mall on a Saturday than school. Then again, all the royals dressed in clothing far more revealing. I was only fourteen; I didn't want to be labeled anything so I played it somewhat safe with a little edge. I pulled my hair back into a pony tail but I kept the bangs out, blow dried them straight, and got out of the locker rooms.

As I strode across the hallways in my nine west wedge heels, I came across a lanky teenage Moroi with sandy brown hair and dark blue eyes. He would have looked like any other Moroi except that dried blood caked his neck, was Basically transparent, and -despite the fact that he was dead- he grinned like the goofball of a brother he was.

A silent tear escaped my right eye. I smiled.

"H-Hey Gabe"


	3. Chapter 2

The ghost of my brother raised his left hand in a military salute. He could be such a goof ball. I laughed.  
>"So how's life- err... death? Haunt any abandoned warehouses lately?"<br>He raised an eyebrow. I scowled, knowing I couldn't do that. His eyes twinkled in amusement. I've never seen a more animated ghost ever and trust me, I've seen plenty of ghosts.  
>He raised his arms and took a batting stance. He then swung a pantomimed bat and pretended to see it go far. I had to think this particular charade through like always.<br>"Baseball?" He gave me a thumbs up. It took me a second to understand what he meant, it was as though I could still read his mind and see through his eyes, even in death.  
>"No, Gabe, I haven't actually asked if there was a baseball-or softball- team. I've only been here all of two hours. I don't even know my room. All of my shit's in the main office..."<br>He put a hand to his mouth and shook his head, his way for scolding me for my language.  
>"Dude, I'm not the eleven year old sis you knew. Almost four years have passed, I can say shit if I want. Watch me: shit, shit, shitty shit, shit."<br>He smirked.  
>His head whipped towards the door. In a rush, he circled his finger around his heart, and pointed at me- It was how we would say good bye.<br>His phantom faded, leaving me alone. I repeated the farewell, confused by his abrupt visit but my question was answered as soon as a familiar Moroi girl entered the hallway.  
>"Hi Magda, remember me? Aimee Tarus? From drama camp? Of course you've gotta remember me, I was your understudy." Yea, I did remember her. Like many of the other royals Aimee had snobbish tendencies. One had to be careful around her or else all sorts of rumors would start. In drama camp, she was tightly packed in the royal clique; I preferred to hang with the people on scholarships because they truly deserved to be there. She was one of the main people in charge of trying to make our stay miserable. Let's just say she failed horribly...<br>I tried to find something nice to say. "Of course. How could I forget? You loved to sing pop tunes during Showcase before curfew..." Well, it was a pretty neutral statement, but hey, at least it was honest.  
>"Wow you do remember! So why'd you come to St. Vlad's? Are you auditioning for Advanced Musical Theater? I hear they only have one spot left." She raised her shoulders. "You might not get it because you're a freshman. I auditioned and I'm a junior so you can see who holds status."<br>"It's not all about age." I retorted.  
>" I hear it's very exclusive, and you can't just get in because your grandma's the Szlesky princess. Maybe you can join the drama club. I'd love to see you help making the sets." Her fake enthusiasm was sickening. If<br>" Actually, I sent in an audition tape right before coming here. I have that class after lunch." I said, growing weary of Aimee's presence.  
>" Oh, I didn't know. I guess they're letting everyone in these days, like Half-Royals, Non-Royals and Dhampirs. They probably haven't sent me my new schedule yet. I guess I'll see you there." She tripped over her own words. I suppressed the taunting smirk that would play over my lips. If she didn't mean what she said, she should've not said anything in the first place. It would have saved her from or of my classic back-talks. I smiled brightly, packing as much plastic sweetness into my voice.<br>"Yep. I'll see you there. Just in case you don't make it though, I'll see you in the end-of-the-year play's auditions. Hopefully you'll actually have a speaking part this time. And maybe this time, they'll let you sing without the backup recording of my voice. You'll need a few voice lessons, though. I heard from our counselor that we were pretty neck-in-neck for the lead. The only thing was that you sounded a bit throaty on the high notes, and the low notes, and pretty much everything in between." Aimee's face faltered for a second.  
>The air around us grew heavier, until the pressure was suffocating. By the Cruel smile on her lips, I knew Aimee was responsible.<br>"Listen to me, Bitch." She spat. "I was sent here by the şef to invite you over to the Mână, but I don't have to go through with Shura's shit, though he seems to want you, I have no idea why. I didn't waste my time trying to get close to you, so just so you know, the Mână will be watching, expect an invitation soon." She let go of the air around me and left.  
>I turned the other way and Exited through the gym.<br>My mind reeled with all sorts of questions, the main one being: What the hell? What is a Mână? It kind of sounds like the word for hand in Spanish -Mano- but the way she said it made me think of some shady high school Mafia. I did NOT want to get involved in that... yet.  
>I was so wound up in my own thoughts, I didn't notice the guardian I bumped into.<br>"Oh I'm sorry" we said at the same time.  
>"Miss, you are not supposed to be wandering the halls." He said, a heavy Spanish accent in his voice.<br>I glanced at him, he was tall, at least a foot taller than me, so like 6'5" or 6'7"; I can't really tell from this height. This guy was really buff, like a bear, maybe he was a bear... a big, tan bear. he had a nice face as well, with a square jaw line and big, almond-shaped, olive green eyes, the only flaw I could detect was a thin pink scar marring the right corner of his jaw, tracing down under the collar of his Guns n' Roses T-shirt.  
>I would've gotten a better look at his hair if it wasn't for the red baseball cap on his head, from what I could see, his hair reached the base of his neck and it was dark, just like his well-tanned complexion. From the looks of it, he spent a lot of time in the sun.<br>This guy didn't seem too old, maybe 23 or 22-ish. Maybe in a few years...  
>I shook off the thought. He eyed me carefully.<br>"I'm kind of lost. It's my first day here... ¿Usted me podría ayudar?" I asked.  
>"Claro, la cafetería está por esas puertas y los alimentadores están hasta el final si necesita alimentarse..."He pointed to the back doors and explained where the feeders were. I barely paid attention, focusing instead on his accent. It was unique, not one I heard often.<br>"Thanks... Hey um.. This may sound weird but... Are you Puertorican?" I inquired, making a mundane attempt at not sounding nosy.  
>"Yes. How you could tell?"<br>"I lived in Miami, I can tell accents apart." I admitted.  
>" But it's still hard to tell Cuban from Puertorican." He raised an eyebrow. Damn, not him too.<br>"Not with practice, plus, your cap has a coquí frog and a slogan that says 'Boricua hasta el fin.' Cubans don't refer to themselves as Boricua."  
>"Nice detective work, Miss Holmes... What is your name?"<br>"Magda"  
>"Amanda?" He asked, using the usual misnomer.<br>"No. Magda. As in Magdalena, just without the -Lena. But you can call me anything but Maggie or Mags."  
>"You know, if your name isn't Magdalena or Maggie or Mags, don't say those names then. It gives others the options to call you something you're not. Make them get your name correct, even if it is getting annoying."<br>Whoa, that sounded like something Yoda or Mr. Miagi would say for a second there...  
>I got a bit flustered. "Enough about me, what's your name?"<br>"Gabriel."  
>"Gabriel? As in Gabe?" I asked, aiming for a laid-back conversation.<br>"No, as in Gabriel Espinoza. But it is Guardian Espinoza to you."  
>Talk about harsh. I was only making conversation and he used the guardian card. I was embarrassed and angered by the way he made me feel like a child.<br>"Well, Gabriel, it was nice meeting you, but I promised a few friends I would meet them for lunch, and I am very late. Bye!" I uttered as I followed through the back doors he showed me.  
>Even though I was slightly irate, something about the previous conversation make me smile. I think it was the Star Wars Karate Kid advice about names, even though that came a little random...  
>Gabriel... Just like Gabe, except he doesn't like the nickname.<br>Good. One Gabe was enough.  
>Once outside, I looked around a swarm of faces. I was shocked, to put it bluntly, at how obvious the social hierarchy stood out. Right in the center, next to the fountain, Royal Moroi sat and gossiped idly. The more athletic Dhampirs sat next to them, probably for the viewing pleasure of the royals. They weren't too picky about who they sat with, they probably sat together because they were all friends, judging by the casual way they sat and laughed. Among them was Ray, who found me and motioned me to go sit with the Dhampirs.<br>I grabbed the last few food items available from the lunch line and waltzed on over to him.  
>I made sure to acknowledge every royal on my way there. A few whispered behind my back. Half of those whispers were compliments- most of which were from guys on my body- but the other half were from the more elite asking things like who does she think she is, and, the more hurtful one came from a red head with light brown roots.<br>"This Dhampir is just trying to get her next fix."  
>Oh hell no.<br>I stopped in my tracks, spun on my heel, and faced her directly. I gave her a cloying smile, flashing my fangs.  
>"Just because I'm a little tanner, have a butt, and am in no need of a water bra, which you so obviously are wearing, doesn't mean I'm a Dhampir. You should also watch how you speak, I'd prescribe a reality check to be in order. Or maybe just a quick toohbrush, because right now, all that that is coming out of your mouth is shit. Adiós." I turned my back on her and strolled to where Ray reserved my seat.<br>"Wow, you just stood up to Reyna Conta." he said.  
>"I see nothing queen-like about her." stated a cream-skinned Dhampir. She had a slim, willowy build, and soft dirty blonde hair.<br>"Magderz, this is Maxima Leon. She's from Venezu-e-la." He said in an attempt to pronounce it right.  
>"Es un placer en conocerte. Ray here wouldn't shut up about how you beat Leo today. Well done." She said as she kissed my left cheek. I was happy at the informal greeting, it felt like home.<br>Ray obviously wasn't used to it."Um yeah, she does that to say hi..."  
>"I know, it's how we say hello back at 'Glades."<br>Maxima chocked on her sprite. "You went to St. Lourdes?"  
>"Uh-huh." I nodded, taking a bite of the filled donut I grabbed, "Mmm... Bavarian cream. My favorite."<br>"Have you heard of Max Lion?" She grinned.  
>"The boss pitcher on the baseball team? The one who integrated sexes and made girls able to join in? That chick was beast! I heard she left before I tried out in eighth grade"<br>"Looks like you got yourself a fan." Leo chimed as he squeezed through the limited seating in the table.  
>I dropped my donut. "No. Way."<br>She blushed.  
>"You're all coach Tito talks about. Don't mind me asking, but can I have a few pointers?"<br>"Sure!" she smiled.  
>"So here we have Magda and Max Lion, two girls from the same school, interested in the same sport, both meet the same school. Destiny wants us to form our own team here at St. Vlad's!" Ray said.<br>"Bro, you're such a clown" Leo sighed.  
>"A clown with a good idea, we need to talk to Kirova about this." I piped in.<br>"I'm in." Max declared.  
>"So am I." Leo followed.<br>"You know I'm in since I came up with the idea."Ray boasted.  
>"What's this about a team freshies?". An older novice questioned. He showed up with a few other novices, they all looked like seniors.<br>"Hi Kevin."  
>"Hey, so about the team... Any sport, and we're in."<br>"Dude, hold on. We've got to talk to Kirova. And we have no coach." I warned.  
>He shrugged, "I'll take care of that. Just tell Kirova that we just need uniforms, and a chance to use the trial stadium."<br>"What if she says no?" I asked skeptically.  
>One of the big novices joined in, "Go to Alberta and tell her Frank wants to join the team. My aunt can't say no to her only nephew."<br>We spent the whole lunch period coordinating the team name, mascot, colors, and uniform. We decided to meet at sunrise near the stadium with the ok.  
>The bell rang, ending lunch. We dispersed. It wasn't until then that I realized our table was beyond overcrowded.<br>I noticed how some other people eyed me curiously. I said hello to those who would stare, but no one would talk to me. Rough crowd, I guess...  
>Once I reached the drama classroom, I made my way inside, glad to be far from those stares. I took my seat in the front of the class by the middle, only to be met by the stares of my classmates.<br>It was going to be a long day.


	4. Chapter 3

Drama was going great... Until Aimee walked in like she owned the place.

"Excuse me miss, what are you doing?" Asked Mr. Zabala, or Z, as he tells us to call him.

"I'm sitting in class. Sorry I'm late teach. Now get on with whatever you were doing." She rolled her eyes. I wanted to punch her.

"Miss, you aren't on the roster" Z checked the clipboard in his hands.

"Trust me Giovanni, I'm there."

Did she just use Z's first name? What a disrespectful, ignorant bi-

Mr. Zabala interrupted my thoughts. "I've had just about enough of your lackluster sense of respect, young lady. It has been the same routine day after day. Just because I accepted a new student, doesn't mean I welcome you with open arms. The reality is you suck, plain and simple. So don't come back into this class again. Have I made myself clear?" He fumed.  
>You go, Z.<p>

Aimee glared at me, picked her things up, and left. However, she didn't forget to leave a message.

"This isn't over!" She called out just before the door shut.

"Wow, now that's what I call a cliché." I mused, earning a few snickers from my classmates.

"Actually, that's what I call a heifer." Z added. The class erupted into laughter..

I zoned out through the rest of school, especially history class, where our teacher was arguing over Napoleon and whether or not he was the Embodiment of the french revolution. Ugh, I hated history; most likely because the class barely ever got past the american revolution.

I looked around the room. Vibrant flowered plants that I've never seen hung from the ceiling. A jolly green climbing vine made its way up her desk. if I looked hard enough, the vine almost resembled her name: Annette Parris.

"So, miss Szlesky, what are your thoughts on this?" Mrs. Parris asked, snapping me out of the daydream I was having.

"Excuse me?"

"What are your thoughts on Mussolini's view of fascism?" She sighed impatiently.

Huh?

"Weren't we just on 18th century France?"

My classmates snickered, I felt my cheeks get warm. Mrs. Parris shook her head.

No, that was the starting exercise, when we compared Napoleon's dictatorship to the political theories that started world war 2." More giggles erupted from a group in the back of the class. I shot them a glare, they sneered.

"Miss Szlesky, I don't know how 'slack' your history class was, but here we do not tolerate lazy bums." She scolded.

I fumbled for the right words to say. "Um... I'm... Sorry?"

She humphed. "Well its a start. But you're not off the hook, I want you to discuss Mussolini, Italian fascism and how it influenced Italy to join the axis powers in world war two next time I see you."

"Yes ma'am" I nodded. The bell rang before she could add to my punishment. Whew. The walk to the office building was a long ways from the senior high my way there, I had the strangest feeling, like I was being watched. Not again...

I turned around... no one was there. I shrugged it off, thinking it was one of the guardians on shift. I walked on, a little more observant of my surroundings. Still there was no one around. Then why was I still feeling it? The more steps I took, the more paranoid I got. I tried changing paths, thinking that maybe I should've taken the long route. The invisible eyes bore into me. Someone was watching me. Someone wants me. Someone was, following -no- stalking me. That someone wanted something from me, that someone wanted to take my light away, just like they did to Gabriel. My poor, poor brother taken by the Strigoi. Those damned Strigoi. I hated them. The entire Strigoi race would pay for what they did!

The campus became hazy as the pressure inside my skull increased. Bat like shadows crossed my vision. I couldn't scream. I couldn't breathe.I stumbled over to the nearest wall and tried leaning against it. I must've missed it because nest ting I knew I was flat on my butt. I put my head between my knees. The pressure poundedon my cranium, like a jack hammer in a downtown construction site. The bat-like shadows flitted through my line of sight, making screech-like sounds as they passed me by. They sounded like nails on a black board, which wasn't helping the migraine at all. The shadows multiplied and got closer, some materialized into the ghosts of people whom I've known or seen once. Neither Gabe nor my mother were to be foundamong the sea of faces.

"You don't belong with them" the blur of ghosts whispered in a deadly unison. "You belong with us." I clutched my head as white hot agony took over. Glowing Stars floated before my eyes in some sick, twisted dance where they mingled with the shadows. I prayed they would go away to no avail.

It seemed like forever until somebody came to my aid.

"Magda? Sweetie are you ok?" A soft voice asked. I tried to look past the bright shadows that conquered my vision. Mrs. Parris knelt down to meet my face, a light blue umbrella in her right hand. I couldn't meet her gaze, my head hurt too much.

She lifted my chin up. "Sweetie open your eyes." I did, my pained gaze meeting her gentle hazel eyes.

"You can push through this. Try to put a wall against them and you." She said. Her words were an encouragement, but I didn't think I had the strength to do so.

"I...can't." I strained out.

"Yes, you can. It's just like stacking Legos, take it one brick at a time." Her words were so firm, yet as smooth as honey, It was as if they gave me the will power to go on.

Slowly but surely, I managed to shoo all the ghosts, leaving me alone with Mrs. Parris, exhausted, and with one hell of a headache; thankfully it wasn't as strong as the one I had pushed my wet bangs out of my forehead. "There you go. Come on, let's get you out of the rain." Rain? When did that happen?

She stood up and held her hand out, "Can you stand?" I shook my head, which only made me dizzy.

"Wait here. Take my umbrella."

She ran inside the building.

I shivered.

Mrs. Parris came back with a school guardian. He looped an arm around my waist and brought me to my feet. My head spun in circles and I almost collapsed to the ground if he hadn't caught me. I supported myself on his shoulder. "Where to?" The guardian asked, his accent sounding familiar.

"Oh hi bear-man." I giggled. they look at me as if i were nuts. Ha! Nuts. Like squirrels...

"The feeder station." She announced.

They led me to the Moroi dorms. Surprisingly no one was feeder station was located far down the main hallway to the left. They set me up at the station at the very end. I had my share of blood from the feeder. Normally I would strike a conversation and get to know the feeder more in-depth, but it obviously wasn't the "normal" scenario...

"All Done."I stood up and straggled my way to the door. Gabriel held my arm. _"Adónde cree que va señorita Szlesky?"_

"I have to talk to Kirova, I promised my friends that I would ask about starting a baseball team." I sighed sleepily.

"You are the girl who started it? _Nena,_ you are the reason that the novices in my class had so much rowdiness in them today." Gabriel folded his arms over his chest. i stifled a giggle, what kind of word is _rowdiness?_

"_Osea, perdóname por querer empezar un equipo_." I grumbled, Was it really so bad to start a team in this school? A school with no teams to represent was like a Disney with no Mickey, a "Chicago" with no Velma Kelly; basically pointless.

"No I'm not saying that. I like the whole team idea, I played baseball in the Caribbean academy..."

"You played in _Academia San Juan_?" I almost squeaked.

"Yes."

"Oh my gosh! Did you know the dynamite duo? Orsino Malvolio and his guardian..."

"Huracán?" He finished for me.

"Yeah! So did you?"

"I knew Orso... He was my charge..." He looked away, his guardian mask hiding what he really felt.

"So you were 'the hurricane?'"I tried to suppress the fangirl-esque squeals that threatened to come out.

"Yes." He said abruptly, his olive eyes betrayed the mask he wore with repressed feelings of remorse. I decided to let the subject drop. I knew what it felt like to have some one pester me over my past...

"That's cool. So yeah... I'll just be going because I have to talk to Kirova and at least ask her." I steadily made my way out of the hall, using the wall for support. It wasn't even five steps that I took before almost making a face plant onto the tiled floor. Gabriel caught me... Again.

"Why don't you go to the infirmar-" "No." I cut his suggestion short, just the thought of someone telling me I needed psychiatric health was enough to put me on edge.

"Miss, you are in no condition to go anywhere now." He snapped.

"Look, I can't just leave the guys hanging. What kind of person would I be?"

"And I can't let your health get in the way, haven't you heard of 'they come first?'. What kind of guardian would I be if I leave a Moroi like this, ESPECIALLY a royal like you, nena."  
>I snapped."<em>Chingada madre<em>!" Gabriel looked taken aback at my sudden swear. "Would you stop with the 'royal' already! Look, I take novice classes, so I'm just another guardian in training. Please respect that decision and let me be myself. I don't need a doctor to tell me I'm stressed."

"Can you two please stop arguing for one second!" Mrs. Parris yelled.

"Look, Magda, We don't have to go to dr. Olendezski if you don't want to. However, you are too weak to got to the head mistress' office in this sun." I was about to argue against the point. In truth I never minded the sun, I've grown used to it from a young age; my mom liked to take us to the beach. However I didn't want to be considered too much of an outcast; Moroi were supposed to keep out of the sun.

I groaned, "So what am I going to do?" Gabriel looked thoughtful."I could go for you? Where were you going to meet with the novices?"

"Near the Trials stadium."

"I'm on it..." He left.

"Come on, I'll take you to your dorm." Mrs. Parris held her hand out. We took the elevator up to the top floor, past a few empty rooms, and into 801A. I opened the lock and made my way in. The room seemed to stretch on endlessly. Complete with a master bathroom, this room would look amazing once I decorated the walls and opened a few windows... Maybe add a few pictures... And furniture.. Speaking of, I still had a load of unpacking to do...

"Need help unpacking?" She raised an eyebrow. Was I the only person in the Vampire world who couldn't do that?

I the two of us, we unpacked three boxes of clothing, five boxes of shoes and arranged them in order by brand. I'm not a big spender, but when it comes to shoes, I am putty in the store's hands. Then, with a little help from the dorm matron, we assembled the furniture I bought from Ikea: one enormous bookcase, one black and silver desk and chair set, three neon loungers, and a silver futon. I was going to install the flatscreen into the wall, but I was too tired to continue, and I don't think Mr. Parris would like it if I kept his wife from him any longer.I thanked them for all their help, and they smiled like it was no big deal.

I stopped Mrs. Parris on her way out."Mrs. Parris?"

"Ms. P is fine." She said.

"Well, Ms. P. About today, can you please not tell anyone about earlier?" I fumbled with my thumbs.

"Sure thing. But if it gets worse, talk to me. I can help you." She sounded like my grief counselor; I doubted she actually knew what was going on.

"Yes, miss."

"Will that be all?"

"Yep. I'll get to the TV eventually"

"Alright, good bye." She walked off. I suddenly remembered something I seriously had to tell her.

"Ms. P!" I called out.

She stopped to look over."What?"

"Mussolini believed that a strong central government should make all the decisions for its country, aka: Fascism. Fascism was also a very militaristic political ideal. When Italy wanted to gain control over Abyssinia, Germany was one of the few countries that didn't stand in his way. Later on that paid off for Hitler when Mussolini sided with Germany even though it had originally sided with France. He thought the war would be short-lived, which," I laughed, "is one of the biggest understatements of all time."

Ms. P was stunned. In an instant she smirked in satisfaction.

"Well played, Magderz, well played."

**ooh! magda went nuts! like a squirrel! XD**

**spanish lesson!**

**Adónde cree que va señorita Szlesky?: where do you think you're going, miss Szlesky?**

**Chingada madre: (mexican curse word) mother f-er **

**nena: PR slang for girl. can be used sweetly or as a derrogatory term...**

**Osea, perdóname por querer empezar un equipo: jeez, excuse me for wanting to start a team...(osea is a mexican slang term, usually used in the north west and urban regions.)**

**VAMPIRE ACADEMY IS NOT MINE. HOWEVER EVERYONE MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER IS!**


	5. Chapter 4

Gabriel was true to his word. In less than a week, we had twelve players, enough to start a team. Our coach? None other than Huracán Espinoza. He put us through some hard core drills in order to see what we had to work on.

When it came to offense, we weren't too bad. Most of us were pretty light on our feet, those on the team who weren't made up for it by hitting well Yet, when it came to defense... Well...

"No! We do not catch the balls bare-handed, Petrov!" Gabriel grumbled. Frank shrugged, not really caring.

"I caught the ball, didn't I?" He retorted.

"That is not the point. I am teaching you this so when the other team throws you a line drive at 85 miles an hour and you catch it, you don't break your dominant hand."

"Like anyone can break my hand." He scoffed. Ha! If only he knew how skillful baseball players really are...

"Go back to center field, Frank. Tylerson, you're up. Max?"

"Sí?"

"You're pitching. Magda, on deck."

"On it." I grabbed one the only girl helmet from the side.I watched as max wound up. Her face focused on the optimum strike zone. Her arm made high arc, but her wrist flicked to her left. The ball spiraled toward the high outside corner of Kyle's strike zone. Kyle swung and missed. Strike one. Max threw an inside Curve ball. This time Kyle didn't swing, probably thinking it was too close. Nope.

"Strike two Tylerson." Gabriel called.

"Are you kidding? That was about to hit me!"

"No it was inside the zone. Now stop being such a nena and play ball."

I coughed. "Excuse me?"

"Perdón." He apologized. I smiled.

Max shook her head as she wound up for her next throw. In the blink of an eye, the ball made a hard "Smack!" Against the catcher's glove. Damn she was fast; I say she pitches like 90 miles an hour. Needless to say, Kyle was struck out. I was next at bat. Max and I locked eyes. She smirked.

"Come on lil' freshie, smile back. Show me those crazy fangs and those adorable dimples that Ray keeps drooling over." Leo called.

"I do not!"

"Heeeere batter batter batteeeer!" Frank jeered.  
>I squared my hips with home plate and took my batting stance, a little farther from home plate than most players stand. What can I say? I like outside pitches. She released her pitch. The ball made a low arc; she threw a slider. I swung a bit too early. The inside of the bat was the only thing to hit the ball, sending it flying towards the right foul line. "Foul!"<p>

"You got a piece of it-"

"But we want all if it!" The team cheered from inside the dugout. Max threw a four seam. The ball almost made contact with my left leg: Ball one.

She pitched again. Even though the ball was beyond low, I swung at it anyways. I missed.

"Strike two!" Damn.

"Wait for your pitch!" Ray yelled.

"Are you going golfing? Come on! Ore are you afraid you royal brat?" Frank spat. Alberta's nephew or not, sometimes the guy didn't know when to shut up; and that day he was testing my patience.

"Petrov! Watch it..." Coach warned.

Max snapped her arm forward like a supersonic whip. I took my step. And swung that bat with all my might. "Whack!" The ball whizzed past the infield. It was a pretty line ball if I do say so myself. I felt pretty proud of myself... Until frank caught the ball... with his bare hand. It bounced off, however, I was no longer paying attention to the ball; I was focused on a certain center-fielder in deep crap.

He yelled and dropped to his knees, clutching his right hand. Everyone on the team, including myself, ran up to see what happened.

Coach knelt down beside Frank and cradled Frank's hand.

"Does this hurt?" He pressed his thumb into his palm.

"Aaaaah!" He cried "No fucking way! It hurts like a bitch!"

"Oh my god, I'm sorry." Crap, this was all my fault.

"Alright, nothing to see. Let's get you to the doctor and bandage you up. Practice is over for the day. See you on Thursday." Gabriel led frank to the infirmary.

"Let me go with you guys." I. Begged. "It's my fault he's like this."  
>Gabriel agreed. Frank was too busy coddling his injured we entered the clinic building, the familiar aroma of anti-bacterial made my hairs stand on end. My eyes darted towards the exit.A woman with a gentle face entered the lobby. As soon as she saw frank, she rolled her eyes.<p>

"You know Frankie; we should get you a frequent visitor card. What is it now?"

"We were practicing when he tried to catch a ball with his hands."

Her look turned disdainful. "You know, they have these great new inventions, their called baseball mitts. They're self explanatory and everything. Try using one next time."

I almost chocked on a laugh. Gabriel shot me a look. I replaced it with a cough."Come on, I'll take you in." The doctor led frank through the doors, the one place I hoped I never ended up in. Gabriel and I took seats in the waiting room. I looked up at the TV; Star wars: Return of the Jedi was on. It's a great thing we came in then because the movie just started; C-3PO and R2-D2 were taken by sand people. I became immersed in the film, as if I was watching it for the first time. I forgot all about the fact I was in the soon as Leah bestowed the medals on Chewy, Han Solo, and Luke, Frank burst out the doors. A bright blue cast decorated his right hand.

"Lady and gentleman, I am cured!" He proclaimed.

"Well actually, he's going to wear the cast for three weeks. No baseball for at least another two."

"Aww. But-"

"No buts." She chastised.

"Fine. The team is going to miss me though."

"We so will and I'll totally be the one to miss you the most..." I rolled my eyes. We chuckled

"Hey listen, sorry about the 'royal' disses." He stared at the floor, like a little kid who was sent to the corner.

I tsked, "All water under the bridge." During the whole of the conversation, I kept eyeing the exit. Now that I wasn't distracted by the movie, I couldn't wait to get out of there. "You okay?" Frank asked.

I laughed. "I should be asking you that."

"I'm fine, but now I know not to mess with the wrath of Magda Szlesky."

I punched him lightly on the arm. Then I looked at myself.

"Damn we're a mess." My hair was caked in red clay. If I didn't get to it soon, I'd have mud stuck there for a week.

"I'm going to take a bath. See you guys soon?" I left abruptly, thankful to get away from the infirmary wing ASAP.

After a warm bath and change I found myself wandering the school. Crossing the chapel, I sighed. God and I weren't on the same page. I mean yea I believed in the dude but he's put me through so much crap that I found it hard to keep my faith in the guy.

"Seeking God?" I turned around to come face to face with Alexei Drosdov, one of the royals from my advanced Drama. He was what people would call... Hot. Like, 3rd degree burn hot. He had dirty blonde hair and big, pale green eyes and unlike most Moroi, the guy packed muscle. Mmm, if he were a camp fire, I'd make smores on him.

"Me? Nah... Just enjoying the sunrise."

"So, an atheist then?" I wouldn't go as far enough to say I didn't believe. I mean, miracles happened every day, did they not? Great I sound like a hypocrite; one moment I talk about how shit happens the next I'm defending miracles. Ugh, that's why I hated touching upon the subject.

"Nope. Catholic." I was raised on my family's principles. The Szleskys are the only royal family that never strayed from the pope. In fact, one of the earlier popes was from the Szlesky line. He was like the Vladimir of his time, but he also healed humans.

"Nice, Just like the rest of your family then." Oh, great. Another royal trying to get in with the princess' granddaughter. I grew irritated. "Listen, if you're going to try and get in good with me because of who my grandmother is and how close I am to her, you can forget about it." I snapped.

He held his hands up. "I was only trying to make conversation. Am I to be blamed for that, Magda?" The mention of my name made me all giggly inside. Stupid crushes, they would do that to me. I dropped my accusing glare.

"You know, you're not like the other girls. I would love to get to know you better." He walked toward me. "Brett Ozera is having a party tomorrow night in the lounge on the fifth floor of the Moroi dorms. I'd love it if you came, as my date."

Wow, this was kind of sudden from someone I barely talked to. I wanted to go, yet I didn't want to sound too eager either. "No."

"No?" He asked, taken aback. I doubt many girls denied him.

"Exactly. I'm not a dog; I don't 'go' anywhere. You pick me up." I smiled. The party girl in me won out.

"As you wish. At what time should I pick you up?"

"Around seven- that is- if you can get past the dorm matron..."

"Don't worry about that. I'm sure I can find my way." He took a step toward me, closing the space between us. I placed my hand on my hip. If sex was the only thing this guy wanted, then he had something else coming. "Saturday at seven then."

"Wear something nice." His eyes traveled downward. I closed myself off and narrowed my eyes, warning him not to cross the line. He quickly retreated his gaze, good boy.

"See you then. Who knows? I might surprise you."

"That I am sure of. I will be counting the breaths, meu premieu." He kissed my hand. I felt a slight heat rise to my cheeks at the flirty gesture, even though I had no clue what he said.  
>Like always I masked my vulnerability with a few smart-ass remarks. "Smooth, did you come up with that all by yourself?"<p>

"Yes. I've been known to come up with all sorts of great ideas." His voice was gruff

"Really, now... Well maybe that ideas looking for a patent." I replied in a coy manner. If he thought he could flirt, well, two could play at that leaned in to steal a kiss, but I brought my finger to his lips.

"But before one can be granted, the idea has to go through the board of directors first."He frowned, his pale forehead scrunching in thought. "And where is this idea?"

"Eh, somewhere in the review pile." I shrugged as I turned to leave. Halfway there, Alexei asked loudly: "Put in a good word for me with the board?"  
>I smirked, "We'll see tomorrow, won't we?"<p>

"Yes we shall. Goodbye, meu premieu."

"Adiós." I gave him a military salute and made my way into the dorm. The next task at hand? I had to find an outfit for the party.

**okay no spanish here... a bit of romanian though... im not telling you what Alexei says though... and yes it is literally translated *wink wink***  
><strong>so... Enjoy!<strong>

**VAMPIRE ACADEMY IS NOT MIIIIIIINE! and im proud to say so! because VA is too BAMF a series to be written by me!**


	6. Chapter 5

"So let's get this straight. You want me here because..." Max prompted, making herself comfortable on my bed.

"I need you to help me choose an outfit for tonight! I told you that this morning!" I started rummaging through my closet.

She suppressed a yawn. "Yeah, a party I wasn't invited to. Plus, it's still morning. Look! The sun is up! Moroi like you should be in bed."

I shook my head, "Not when Moroi like me don't know what to wear!"

"_Mira chama_, your closet is full of clothing! How can you say you have nothing to wear? My closet is fifteen times smaller than this."

"I'm not saying I have nothing to wear; I'm saying that I don't know what I should wear!" I moaned.

"You're so complicated!" She got of the bed and joined me in what I called the next Indiana Jones movie: Indiana Jones and the search for the party dress.

Her eyes scanned the closet. "Aha!" She reached for a short purple dress in less time than it would take someone to say: donut.

I stared at her, my mouth wide open. "How did you do that?"

"You said you needed a dress. I got a dress. Try it on." She handed it over.

I came into the bathroom and changed into the dress. It was a Barney-purple halter sundress with a bejeweled collar. The medium neckline didn't reveal too much, but was just perfect for me. The bottom trim was also had big silver rhinestones. I wasn't able to look at myself in the mirror well enough because max didn't give me the chance to.

"Hey are you done in there? _¡Salte!_ Come out!" Max called.

I opened the bathroom door. Max's already big grey eyes grew wider, if that was possible.

"Daaaaaaamn, girl you look hot!"

I blushed, a normal reaction to honest compliments. "Really?"

"Uh huh, look it matches your _calcetines_." She pointed at my socks. Raccoons made up the design. I blushed; What can I say? They were on sale and I love purple.

"Didn't you hear? Raccoons are so in this season. Every one has to own a pair of purple raccoon socks..."

Max laughed. " I'll tell you what, next time we pass by a sock store I will buy them."

"Good. I'm glad you're finally gaining a sense of style."

Max threw a pillow at my face. "Hey! I chose that dress."

"True." I plopped down next to her on my bed."So what do we do now?"

"I don't know, you dragged me up here from across campus! Oh! I have an idea!"

"Yeah?" I asked in hype.

"GOOD NIGHT!" She pulled my covers over her head.

I groaned, "You're no fun... Don't you want to go exploring?"

"Nayjstwntofnshslpn" she muffled into my pillow.

"What?"

She raised her head, "No, I just want to finish sleeping!"

"Come on! Don't you want to find out what's in the other rooms on this floor?"

"I'd rather find out what the sand man has in store for me in Dream land."

"And what if I set up the TV? Join me in a round of Wii boxing?" I coerced.

"Nah, I don't want to move."

"Wanna play Black-ops on the ps3?" Sooner or later she was bound to give in.

"I don't want to destroy your ego so quickly" she dismissed.

I sighed in defeat, "Wanna watch the Red Sox take on the Nationals?"

Her head snapped up. "You get ESPN on your TV?" Bingo.

I shrugged. "If I set it up right, it'll be HD-"

"Then what are we waiting for?" She leaped out of the bed.

We assembled the wall bracket between the two of us. Max scored a power drill from the maintenance closet on the second floor. After securing it onto place we mounted the TV. It took a lot of muscle to lift it up, but we managed.

Max wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Phew, glad that's done. So, you spend all your time watching TV?"

"Me? No. I usually watch TV on Sundays when there nothing to do. At night I turn the food network challenge on and fall asleep to Kerry Vincent rag on a cake."

"Then why all the HD?"

"My dad wanted to make up for paternal absence..."

"I know how that feels." She sighed. Most Dhampirs didn't know his or her father since the never stuck around, Max was no exception.

We plugged in all the cables connecting the TV to the various game consoles and premium high definition cable box. When we finished I turned on the TV. The channel was set on 414: the food network. At the moment Iron chef was on and Bobby Flay was making some mouth watering churros. I swear I could smell the warm buttery vapor that rose from those crunchy, steamy pastries. Mmm, what I wouldn't for one of those churros at the moment.

My stomach growled. Max laughed.

"Hungry?"

"Very." Stupid churros."Come on let's see what we can scrape up in the commons."

"In our Pjs?" She asked.

"Why not?"

"Okay..." she said a bit uncertainly.

We went downstairs, across the commons and into the mess hall. A few early birds sat down in scattered tables. I grabbed three watermelon slices, a big helping of cottage cheese and a donut. I looked at the Omelet bar and ordered one with cheese, mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions. Yup, that should be enough food.

I ate it all up in what seemed like two bites. I sighed in satisfaction.

Max laughed. "I haven't seen such an appetite since I saw Jaws!"

I smirked, "I take pride in my appetite. How many Moroi have you seen eat as much as I do?"

"Only you, but aren't you going to over-stuff yourself when you go feed?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. I hated when people asked me about my feeding schedule. The fact that I needed a schedule in the first place made me feel like a zoo animal."Nah. I have it for dinner."

"Really? Because I sat with you at dinner on Thursday and you didn't feed then..."

"I-I feed when the rooms are empty. I don't like to make it a show." I wasn't  
>exactly lying to her, nor was I telling her the truth.<p>

Her nose twitched, her most common reaction when she thought something was bull. "Ok, but I really think you should lo-"

"Wanna head back to the room? The game's gonna start." I cut in, honestly not wanting to push further into the subject.

"Fine." She twitched her nose again. I pretended not to notice.

We got upstairs just in time to see the first batter. The nationals were up first. He hit a single. The next two batters did the same. Up next was the one and only Pudge Rodriguez.

WHAM! He hit a homer on the first pitch! Thatta boy!

"YEAH YOU GO PUDGE. VAMOS BORICUA! WOO-"

Max covered my mouth with her hand. "Can you scream louder? I don't think they heard you in Japan!

I smiled sheepishly. "My bad."

Despite the awesome start off, the Sox ended up winning. Well, not that I was rooting for the nationals; they sucked. I just liked the team my favorite player is in.

"Oh my gosh that was a great game!" Max squealed in joy. I bet she was happy I woke her up. "Did you see those moves on that shortstop? It was like Awesome! He was a cheetah on the field. Not to mention he is really hot."

"José Iglesias is hot, and he's the youngest player." I admitted. I did have a thing for baseball players. And, aside from catchers, second base and shortstop players had the best legs and the best butt. Hmm... I wonder how Ray, Andy, and Kevin would look in a speedo...

"You know who else is young? Coach G." Max added in randomly.

I guessed Gabriel was pretty young, like 23-ish. Although sometimes he looked a lot younger; you could see it in his eyes.

"He's nineteen."

WHAT! No way! I mean yeah his eyes hold a winsome, childish smile, but there was no way he could be so young. The dude just graduated!

"For real?"

"Yup."

And then a major realization hit me. The day I had my little "episode", he told me he was THE Huracán Espinoza. Gabriel was catcher to Orsino Malvolio, the first Moroi to play baseball in any academy. The duo graduated last summer. I can't believe I simply forgot about that. Why was I so stupid?

"You would think he was older. Few people get nine Molnijas at that age..." I mused.

"Well then, we have a pretty bad-ass coach."

"Uh-huh." I looked at my phone screen. It was five-thirty. "I'm going to take a shower. Feel free to surf the channels."

"You don't have to tell me twice." She flipped the channel onto HBO. "Ooh! True Blood is on! That Eric is so yummy... I'd let that Viking pillage me any day."

I giggled, "okay then."

After a great steaming hot bath, I got dressed and started to brush my wet hair. I decided to leave it down naturally. As soon as my hair dried up, it would form the loose curls and waves it naturally had falling down my mid-back. To decorate my loose mane, I chose a silver headband.

I looked at my face in the mirror, applied moisturizer on my face, and added some mascara to my incredibly short lashes for an eye enlarging effect. The last touch was the lip gloss. And I knew a shade that would go perfect with my outfit. I got out to look for my school make up case. Aha! It was in my gym bag. I opened the zipper and searched inside. Crap, it wasn't there. I looked back  
>inside the bathroom, No luck there either.<p>

I thought of the last time I really used that shade. I was playing the lead in the drama camp production of. In that case, the gloss would be in the make up case. I went back inside my closet. I reached for a large silver chest. On the lock, my mother's initials were etched onto the lock: NM. I ran my fingers over it. The etched silver was charmed with an spell as old as time itself to keep out unwelcome strangers. I thumbed the lock and felt the familiar tingle in my finger tips. I squeezed the top and bottom until I heard a pop. I released my hold on the lock and watched as the  
>case unfolded its many compartments. Small drawers replete with different eye shadows, lip shades, and accessories unfurled their polychromatic cargo.<p>

"Woah, that is a lot of make up." Max stared at the chest. "And it's really bright."

"That's because it's stage make up. I've got every thing from animal to zombie make up. I  
>also have a few wigs and plastic skin molds as well." I said as I applied the right shade of gloss.<p>

"Cool. Hey! Is this what I think it is?" She held up a sliver chain with a blue charm hanging from it. If you looked at it closely, it kind of resembled an eye. At the center was a black dot, surrounded by a pale blue ring that was within a white ring within a dark blue stone.

"Its a _'mal de ojo'_ charm right? Its supposed to protect from the evil eye." she chimed.

"Well my mom called it a n- a naz- ugh! I don't remember!" I shook my head. She used some Turkish word, but damn I forgot! I used to wear the charm all the time, just never in the same place. Sometimes I wore the charm as a bracelet, a head piece, an armband, etc... Then my mom died and I just stopped. I don't know why I stopped exactly, but I did.

"Its really cool. You should wear it."

"I would but the neckline's design is too busy to add a necklace. But... I can do this..." In a stroke of pure genius, I took the silver chain and wrapped it around my bare ankle. "There, its an anklet."

Max hummed in agreement. "Creative. What shoes are you gonna add?"

I grabbed a pair form the wall rack, Silver pumps that would add at least five inches, making me a grand height of five foot-nine. "These." I chirped.

"Are those-"

"Loboutinis?" I flashed a fanged grin. "One of the great things about living in Miami is the shopping. These we're on sale."

"Nice." Her eyes scanned the rack. "You know, if some of these come up missing... They'll be in my room... Just so you know." she raised an eyebrow playfully; You have got to be kidding me!

"I'll keep that in mind."

Some one knocked on the door. My heart skipped a beat.

"I'll get it!"

I opened the door to find Alexei leaning against the frame.

"Hi miss, is the patent office open today?"

"Mhm, take a ticket and well try to fit you in."

"I'd love to, but I have an appointment with the head of department today. I hear she's big on punctual people."

I glanced at the bedside clock, seven on the dot.

"You're right on time; she's impressed."

"_Oye!_ Stop with the foreplay and leave, or the head of security will kick both of you out!" Max called from my bed.

"_Ay_, Go back to your novela!" I shouted. "Let's go"

He took me by the arm and led me down the backs stairs through the fire escape. The early evening sun hung low on the horizon, as though it waited for me to go outside to say good morning. The early spring air chilled me to the bone. I should've packed a shawl for the weather, but I chose looks instead. I sighed; I missed the hot, humid south Florida weather.

"Are you cold?" He asked.

"A little..." I admitted. "Montana's really cold."

He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer than I would normally allow, but the warmth radiating from his fleece coat was enough to shut my mouth.

We snuck in through an open service door and up the service elevator. The lounge looked like any other lounge except for the bar set up in the far side of the lounge serving the royal specialty: booze.

Royal Moroi mingled with one another. I recognized a few as the Royals from the fountain. Reyna Conta chatted idly with another royal, eyeing me with every step I took.

Alexei hung his coat on the rack by the door. He then unzipped the thick sweater he was wearing underneath, revealing a beige thermal dress shirt. With all the layers he wore, I was surprised he even needed the coat.

"Cousin!" A familiar voice called. Danielle Szlesky came up and hugged me until  
>I barely had any breath left.<p>

"Danny... Can't... Breathe..."

"Oh sorry!" She let go. "Hi Alexei."

Cute and perky were two words I would use to describe my first cousin; she was basically a Barbie doll come to life: tall, blonde and gorgeous. I would often joke that he was born into a family of cheerleaders and then uncle Theo and aunt Peggy adopted her. We used to hang out all the time when we were little.

"So, you two an item?" She tilted her head.

"We'll see." He gave a killer smile.

I spent the next few hours flirting with Alexei and dancing with everyone in the party. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by the other royals having a blast. A few drinks were had by the others, but I decided to stay sober. Alexei, decided to make a move, and I fell prey to his charms. We kissed in front of the whole party.

"Wow. You're good." he commented after.

"You're none too shabby yourself." I giggled.

"So does this mean that I'll get to take you out again?"

"Sure." I kissed him again.

"Wow, Alexei. You sure know how to rebound quickly." Reyna commented from her spot across the room.

"Quit it Reyna..." Danny warned.

"Stay out of this." She barked. "So, you dump me for this?" She signaled me up and down. "She's a little short for size, don't you think?"

"At least my ego isn't as inflated as yours is." I snapped back. Whispers rose  
>from the background.<p>

"I pride myself on being Moroi, a royal one at that. I don't go around pretending what I'm not."

I scoffed. "That is the biggest load of shit I've ever heard. I fight because it's what's right."

"You fight with the Dhampirs because you've yet to specialize." She smirked in satisfaction.

I tensed. "Who told you that?"

"Please, anyone can hack into Ms. Carmack's computer. Seems like you do well in all elements, but you've failed to pass just one. What a pity, it looks like you'll have to repeat the course next year..." Aimee said as she strutted into the room.

My fingers twitched. I wanted nothing more than to punch their royal lights out. Instead I chose a more 'royal' response.

"Well Reyna, I wouldn't talk if I were you. If I have my sources straight, you slept with the Slavic art teacher to score you an A in the class."

She froze in shock. "Wh- what kind of whack-ass stories have you come up with?" Her voice rose an octave.

"Oh they aren't stories. You and your confidant should really find a better place to talk aside from the library." This earned a few snickers, Alexei included. Reyna ran out of the room. Aimee stood shocked.

" You bitch..." She started before I cut her off

"Aimee, I would seriously shut up if I were you; you know what happens when you mess with me. Unless you want me to tell every one what happened last summer."

She laughed. " You know nothing of last summer..."

"Don't I?" I teased.

The air around us physically tensed. The other Moroi looked around in panic. I glared at Aimee.

"Do you think you frighten me with those powers? _Morra,_ let me give you a bit of advice." I strode to meet her face to face. "Strigoi don't use magic. Strigoi don't use fancy air tricks to cut off your air supply. Strigoi don't need to breathe; If you try to use one of those useless air spells on a Strigoi, you won't need to either."

"You're all talk and no game. I bet you've never seen a Strigoi up close." Aimee challenged. I laughed coldly, did she really think that she could get by with that? This girl had another thing coming.

"Don't I? Strigoi made me watch as they ripped my brother limb from limb. They forced me to watched as they used his veins and arteries as straws. Don't you tell me that I don't know what I am talking about, when I probably know more than all of you combined. It's time you woke up and popped that little bubble of comfort you live in because as soon as you get out into the real world, there will be situations where your guardian won't able to help you." Aimee was taken aback, but I wasn't going to smirk or laugh smugly; I was dead serious, and it would be disrespectful toward the dead, who haunted me enough as it was.

Danny placed her hand on my shoulder. "Come on, let's bounce." I nodded. We walked out, but not before Alexei caught up with us.

"I'll go with you." Alexei chimed in.

"Me too." Sean Conta added.  
>"And me." a random guest posited.<br>"Hey don't forget me!" Brett Ozera piped up.

I shook my head. "Nah, you guys head back to the party, sorry for ruining it, Brett."

He shrugged "It wasn't your fault anyway. You sure you won't stay?"

"Sorry, there are some things I gotta sort out."

"I understand." He smiled. I doubted he really did understand though.

Alexei snuck Danny and I through the back again. He was just about to leave with us when I stopped them.

"You should stay. I kinda need to take a breather."Danny hesitated before walking back in, leaving me and Alexei alone to talk.

"About what happened earlier..." He started.

I shrugged it off. "Hey don't worry about it. It wasn't that bad... They just needed to fall off their cloud." Alexei chuckled. When his laughs died down, his face turned severe.

"I know how it is..." He muttered.

I tilted my head. "Hmm?"

"Losing your sibling to the Strigoi. I know how you feel. I lost my sister to  
>them."<p>

A simple "Oh" was all I could manage.

"Remember the Drosdov attack?" How could I forget? The school was put on hard lock down for it. For the next few months there was no contact with the outside. When 's was attacked, we weren't even allowed to leave our dorms.

"I do."

"They got my sister and her husband." The look on his face wasn't sad, but distant."I didn't see them die, but I saw them dead. It was terrible." I nodded. He  
>understood where I came from, but there was no way he would have ever felt the pain I felt.<p>

I could remember that fateful night clearly, it was as though I saw it through his eyes. His fear surged though me, heightening my own. When he died, part of me was ripped away. Every day after that, I would wake up with a part of me missing; I wondered if that was how amputees felt when they lost a limb.

"Terrible is an understatement..." I blinked back tears that began to make my eyes sting. I hated to cry, it was a sign of weakness. I looked away.

"Alexei, I have to go..." I sighed.

"Does this mean we can't do this anymore?" He asked. I leaned over and kissed him lightly.

"We'll see, _Rubio..._" I prompted, calling him by a nickname I came up with on  
>the spot.<p>

"Um... What does that mean?"

I laughed. "_Rubio_ means blonde."

He absently ran a hand through his hair."_Rubio_ huh?... I like it."

I smiled broadly, "Goodnight, _Rubio..._"

"Good night, Meu Premieu." With that, he closed the door, leaving me out in the  
>cold Montana air.<p>

Damn, I really should have brought a sweater...

**... i wanted churros... could you tell?**  
><strong>lol this is just a character development chapterr bc magda was getting a bit mary sue-ish...**  
><strong>plus i wanted to develop the friendship between the girls.<strong>

**like i said... the first few chapters will be a bunch of baseball terms.. bare (or is it spelled bear?) with me.. there here 4 a reason.. we'll see less of it as the story goes on**

*****spanish lesson!**  
><strong>mira chama- (venezuelan slang) look, chickdude**  
><strong>salte!- get out!<strong>  
><strong>calcetines- socks<strong>  
><strong>mal de ojo- evil eye (you know what it is XD)<strong>  
><strong>oye- hey!<strong>  
><strong>ay!- sound effect... sounds like "I"<strong>  
><strong>morra- (mexican slang) chick girl/ dudette**  
><strong>rubio- blonde<strong>


	7. Chapter 6

_I was alone._

_I was supposed to be inside the church, but I didn't listen to Ms. Gina. I needed to find Gabe because i believed he was the only person who could keep me safe. So I snuck out of the pew where all the other pre- kindergarten students were being held and got out of the church. The big tall guardians were busy fighting something outside, so sneaking over to the middle school was easy._

_The door to the building was broken wide open to the side, so I didn't have to push that heavy thing aside. I looked around. Woah, that place was huge! I was definitely going to get lost in there._

_"Hmm, what did Gabe tell me? Oh yeah, if the little hand was on the twelve and the big hand somewhere in the middle of the four and the five, then he would be inside the arts and crafts room until lunchtime." I thought out loud._

_The art class room was really hard to reach because it was basically isolated at the end of many empty hallways. I reached high to open the door. Nobody was inside, although it looked like everyone just got out in a rush because the chairs weren't tucked in. I thought he went to recess or something so I decided to go look for him there. I was about to leave when a deep voice with a strange accent stopped me. "Vere do you sink you're goeeng?"_

_I turned around to face large man. He had sharp pointy teeth just like me, but his eyes were different fron any thong I've seen. They were red on the outside but inside they were a brownish yellow, like dry grass or hay. I didn't like the way he looked at me. He looked like a hungry fat kid staring at fresh donuts through a bakery window._

_I stepped back. "Nunya."_

_He tilted his head to the side, like a cat would do before he chased the mouse."Excuse me?"_

_"You know, nunya business."_

_"Ha-ha." Mr. Weird eyes faked a laugh. I backed away into the door, but before I knew it, he blocked the only exit."Leaving so soon? Don't you vant to stay and play?" He asked. His question freaked me out. I didn't help that he kept eyeing me as though I was the best meal he'll ever eat._

_"No thank you, I'm not s'posed to talk to strangers." I tried to go around him. In a flash, he had me three feet off the ground. I thrashed around furiously. " HEY! PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN! ¡BÁJAME*! LET GO YOU STUPID COMMUNIST ASSHOLE!" I yelled, calling him something I heard my father say before. I didn't really know what I just called him, but I thought it worked because he stared at me in shock._

_"You are a very naughty little girl." He laughed._

_I huffed. "Am not. Santa leaves me a lot of presents every year. And he checks his list twice." I added matter-of-factly, sticking my tongue out at him._

_"Oh this is going to be fun..." He said right before he sank his fangs into my neck. I cried out in pain. Then, the strangest sensation took over. Warm honey filled my veins, leaving me without a care in the world. Time slowed down, the paintings that hung from the walls in the art room swirled around me. Every thing around me faded into darkness as I was pulled into a deep, foggy sleep._

_I never knew exactly what happened in the darkness. Nonetheless, I _did_ have the vaguest sensation of a chilly warmth before I opened my eyes; I noticed I was in my brothers arms,who was crying for no apparent reason. He was hugging me a little too tightly for my taste."GAAAABE, me estás aplastando*, you're shmooshing me!" I whined in both English and Spanish, just in case he didn't hear me the first time._

_"Magda? Your alive!" He hugged me even tighter. "No me asustes así pinche esqüinkle, me entiendes?"* He sniffed. He sounded so relieved, but I wasn't going to let him get away with cursing._

_"Ooh, you said a bad word. I'm telling." I cooed. Gabe totally ignored my threat and kissed the top of my head. He pulled me in closer. I couldn't help but to hug him back. We both knew I wasn't going to tell._

Then I woke up, for real.

That was one of the most vivid memories I had. I was only four years old. It was needless to say, a very precocious four-year-old at that. It was the first time I came face to face with a Strigoi, so it wasn't something anyone could forget, no matter how hard I tried.

My thoughts we're interrupted when someone knocked furiously on my door. "MAGDI-COOKIE OPEN THE DOOR!" A female voice shouted. I groaned as I got off the bed. I opened the door to find max tapping her foot impatiently.

"What's up?" I asked groggily before I yawned deeply.

"Overslept much? Coño chama*, I thought you ran away too, or like, snuck off with Alexei to play 'touchy feely'."

I crinkled my nose."What do you mean 'too'? What happened?" Max's face turned serious. "Reyna Conta ran away early this morning." I stayed taken aback. "What? Why?"

"Well from what I over heard, there were some pretty nasty rumors about her circling around campus these past few weeks." She said.

"Oh." I managed to croak out. Guilt pressed onto me like a dead weight. I was the cause if those rumors. I knew I should've held my tongue. I had the vaguest sense that this was going to bite me in the butt later on. "Did you hear anything else?"

"Yes. Some of those rumors involve you." I winced.

"What did you hear?" I asked.

"It was basically your fault she left. You fought with Reyna, called her out in front of a whole bunch of people, and those people spread the word." She placed a hand on her hip and scrunched her nose. "I know I'm not supposed to trust in stories, but something tells me this tale wasn't stretched too far from the truth."

I scratched my head. "Well..."

She sighed, " Magda, how much of this is true?"

I bit my lip, "All of it?" I didn't mean for it to come out as a question, it just did.

She groaned. "I knew it. But why?"

"She pissed me off! First she calls me short, then she tells everyone I haven't specialized-"

"You haven't?" She interrupted.

"That's not the point. The point is she got me mad and I snapped." I reasoned feebly.

"So you tell everyone one her deepest secret?" She countered.

" She told them mine! And it seemed better than knocking her teeth out." I rebuttaled, crossing my arms.

She sighed deeply again, "Oh, Magdi-cookie, what will I do with you?"

I looked down. "I fucked up, didn't I?"

"Yup." She nodded slowly.

"And there's no way to fix this unless she comes back." I added.

"Nope." She said, popping the 'p'.

"What now?" I moaned, throwing my arms up in defeat. Max gave me a friendly hug. "You deal with it. I lied about the whole rumor thing, by the way."

"Wait, what?" I asked, befuddled.

"I guessed you were behind the whole thing." She smirked. "I guess I was spot on." Satisfaction hung in her words. She looked pretty full of herself. I smacked her on the arm. "Hey!" she protested.

"That's for lying to me." I smiled full on, hiding the guilt that pressed even harder onto me.

"Well hurry downstairs or they'll run out of feeders." She urged. My stomach churned, urging me to throw up yesterday's dinner at the mention of feeding. I shrugged her off. "Nah, I'm skipping the morning line up."

"Again?" Her nose twitched. I knew she knew I was lying to her, and I hated it. But feeding was definitely not my thing. When it came time for feeding at my old school, I would strike up a conversation with the feeder, who was usually too high on endorphins to notice I was compelling them into thinking I had fed from them, but apparently they've upped guardian security over here because some idiot turned Strigoi on school grounds last year, so I decided to skip all together. The longest I could go without a feeding was two weeks- a record I was currently maintaining. To make up for such little blood intake, I replaced my meals with far more protein and iron than the usual diet. Yet as a result of my feeding habits, my health took a toll; frequent migraines, strange hallucinations, paranoia, and sudden mood changes were a modicum of my usual problems. Still, I'd rather suffer from health issues than take away life-sustaining blood from someone else.

"Yeah, I don't like the people on duty right now." I fibbed. I silently prayed she wouldn't press me on the subject any more.

She let out a breath, "Fine, I'll see you later then..."

*~*  
>The rest of the day went on like normal, except the guilt I kept feeling over Reyna kept getting worse and worse. The walls of the school seemed to get smaller and narrower. Once the dismissal bell rang, I rushed into the locker rooms and changed into grey softball shorts, long baby blue socks, a matching tank top, and my purple baseball spikes. I made my way outside for practice. I hoped I would shake off the pressures of school with some exercise.<p>

Since the next day was our first game, practice was not as rigorous as the preceding ones so as not to tire the team out. It was basically like polishing shoes before a big event. For everyone else, practice seemed to glide by. For me, however, it was a completely different story. Every so often, I would think about how I practically sent Reyna to her doom. I worried about how her parents would react over her brash decision. They would disown her, throwing her out to fend for herself.  
>I would get so engrossed in my inner thoughts that I would lose track of what was happening outside.<p>

"Szelsky! Get your damn head in the game!" Kevin, our self-elected team leader, yelled. "You just missed an air ball that you could've caught!" _Air ball? What the hell was he talking about_?I thought.

"What's an air ball?" I asked, a hint of smart ass in my voice.

"Seriously? When the ball is hit into the air, what is it called?" He meant to make me sound stupid, but he was only making himself look like an idiot.  
>"Its called a FLY BALL." I replied dryly.<p>

He was about to say something snarky back, but he stopped. "Yeah... Well... Next time, catch it." He finally barked.

To sum it up, practice left a whole lot to be desired. When Gabriel called practice to a close, I quickly made my way to pick up my bag and change my spikes for a pair of Yellow Crocs. As I stomped out of the dug out, Kevin decided to block my exit.

"Kevin Howard, I'm not in the mood. Please get out of my way." I warned, clenching my fist. A grin played on his lips."Oh, so we're on a full name basis now? Fine, have it your way. Magda Alexandra Szlesky, I didn't care for your attitude in today's practice." He chided, making me feel like a child.

"You not the goddamn coach, so I have no intention of apologizing for your stupidity. Before you try to pass yourself off as the 'captain' , which no one sees you as anyways, make sure you at least know your baseball vocabulary. Because when you don't, it makes you look like an even bigger jackass then you already are." I quipped.

"Why don't you come at me with more than just words. Or better yet, get your big Brother to do it for you. You make him sound like some kind of god, well why doesn't he come to fight for you no-"  
>He never got to finish his sentence. Before any one, including my conscience, had a chance to object, I kneed Kevin in the man jewels. He fell to his knees with a whimper. I grabbed him by the collar.<p>

"You stupid, stupid boy," I snarled, my voice taking a feral, animalistic quality to it, "my brother is long dead. Never again do I want to hear you speak about him. I went easy on you this time, out of pity for your sad, worthless soul. Next time, I will show you no kindness. Have I made my self clear?" I had no idea where I was getting all my pent up rage from, but at the moment I didn't give a hoot. Kevin nodded vigorously and I let him go. His face landed on the red clay.

I turned my way toward the gym, which was already closed but I would sneak into it anyways. I didn't care who saw the fight. I may have gone a little far on my standards, but I was unpredictable when I was angry. I thought my actions over, and shugged. _Yup, I definitely could've done way worse._

Gabe materialized beside me. His eyebrows squished together in worry for me. I talked to him as I kept walking "Bro, don't worry about me, worry about that guy over there. I just need to be left alone. Please." I begged him. He looked at me with sad eyes, then bid me farewell as he dissolved into the air.

I reached the doors of the once empty storage room- turned batting cage. The lock was simple to pick. For a school so well guarded against Strigoi, the inside security sucked.

I grabbed my bat and helmet from my bag. When I told my father about the baseball team, he was only too happy to donate funds to it; Any thing to cut down on his taxes. He also sent my equipment over from home. Actually, I wouldn't give him the credit. I talked with our home caretaker, Diana, who sent my things over airmail. My dad was doing business somewhere in Tokyo.

I plugged the pitching machine in and took my position on the other side. The pitches were soft, so I was pretty bored with the first set. When the machine finished, I set it up at a higher speed. Yet again, the machine disappointed me, so I set it faster. I batted away my frustrations, letting each and every one of them out. With every smack made against the aluminum bat, I felt a worry lift itself from my shoulders. All too soon, the pitches ended. I went back to set the machine again. I reached for the knob and turned it beyond the highest setting. I figured it wouldn't have made that big a difference anyways.

Boy was I ever wrong. With every pitch made, the ball seemed to curve farther inward. I didn't mind that much because i needed practice on ball hit on the inside. The last pitch however, went too far inside. It was so fast, I didn't get a chance to move out in time. The baseball hit my right shin. I fell to the ground.

"¡Ingasu!"* I cried out. I held my shin, which only made it hurt more.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the net move. Before I knew it, some one was kneeling next to me, almost starting me out of my socks. when I looked up, I realized it was Gabriel who came to my aid.

"Let me see it." He commanded. His face was expressionless, except for his eyes, they held a caring gleam in those depths of olive green. His voice was soft, like that of an older brother. At that moment, he reminded me so much of Gabe that it hurt to look at him. I tried to distract my sadness with a game of twenty questions.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked, rubbing the ever-so-sore spot on my leg. A bruise would definitely be showing because of that run away ball.

"I followed you." He replied tersely. I stared at him in bewilderment. He took the awkward pause as a means to continue speaking. "I saw the squabble between you and Howard. Then you stormed off into the gymnasium and after checking everywhere else I decided to look in here. The loud cursing in a Mexican accent also helped quite a bit." _Yea he should be one to talk about accents when barely any one understands him as he speaks English_. Okay, I may have exaggerated, but his accent was way more noticeable than mine.

"I wasn't doing anything wrong, I mean besides sneaking into the gym and tampering with school property. I was only using the cage for some extra hitting practice for tomorrow's game." I blurted.

"Don't worry, nena. I used to come to the cages to cool off as well." He said, a knowing glint in his eyes. "Now let's check the damage." He rolled my sock down ever so softly, careful around my shin area. A deep bluish black bruise was already formed on the skin. He gingerly probed around the bruise, seeking any sign of a crack or fracture. Despite my painstakingly loud yells, he didn't find any of the sort.

"Well nothing seems to be broken. But I just want to take you to Dr. Olendezski to be su-"

"No please!" I cut in pleadingly. The last thing I wanted was to have a doctor look at me. She might find out about the feedings... Or lack there of.

He fixed his gaze on mine. His eyes searched me, seeking to understand. I stared back into the vast marsh lands in his eyes. "I really don't want to go to the doctors office." I coaxed, my voice quivered, yet it held a different kind of strength. "Please, I just need an ice pack."  
>Gabriel chuckled, "You need a little more than that, nena. Let me go get an ice pack." He got up and left me in the room alone. I removed my helmet, grabbed my bat, and dragged myself over to where my bag was thrown carelessly on the floor. I removed my baseball socks and put everything inside. I rummaged inside of it for my jacket, then I remembered I left it on my bed. Crap, the temperature was in the low sixties, I was going to freeze."Damn it" I cursed as I brought my hands down, accidentally hitting myself on the bruise. It stung terribly so I sucked in air and bit back a scream.<p>

Gabriel came back with his own gym bag and a first aid kit. "Got the stuff. Now, give me your leg." I did as he commanded. The bruise was much worse than before; Already black in color, the skin around it turned a shade of baby blue. I let out a giggle. Gabriel looked at me oddly. "Hmm?"

"Well I was just thinking, if my skin turns any bluer, I'd be considered a Na'vi." I said, earning a full smile from the coach, albeit a mischievous one.

"No, you are too short to be an avatar. You are more like a Pitufo*." He countered. He grabbed a jar filled with an orange gel, which he proceeded to rub on my leg. I decided to distract my self from the pain with the ongoing conversation.

"Pitufo? Did you just call me a Smurf?"

"You have to admit the name suits you. Smurfs are unpredictable. One moment they are all flowers and mushrooms and the next they are punching someone three times their size in his groin." He raised an eyebrow. I smiled full on; as the only person in the world who couldn't raise just one eyebrow, it was the best i could do. At that moment, Gabriel's expression wavered a bit between wonder and juvenile mischief. He averted his eyes. He got an ice pack and gauze from the first aid kit in an attempt to cover the tension that found its way between us again. He snapped the inside of the ice pack so the endothermic reaction would make the ice pack cold. The placed it on my leg and wrapped the gauze around it, ignoring my cries of protest.

"There you go. Come on, let me help you over to your dorm." He hooked his arm to my waist and I did the same around his since he was so tall I couldn't reach his shoulders. I tried my best to walk, but not without a slight limp. He opened the doors to outside and a burst of freezing air whooshed in, causing my teeth to chatter.

"¿Tienes frío?*" He asked. I nodded, shivering."Un p-p-poco."* I breathed shakily. Goose bumps rose on my arms and legs.

He let out low chuckle, "Sure, just a little cold? Right. Here, take my jacket." He unzipped the jacket he wore and handed it to me. I hastily put it on, relishing the warmth on my skin. "Thanks." I said.

"No problem."

The path to the dorms seemed to stretch on for miles on end. Not that I minded. Every now and then I would glance over at Gabriel, who in turn would glance back at me, causing heat to flood my cheeks, making me look away. Growing weary of our game of peekaboo, I took up small talk.

"How come your always wearing a hat?" I asked.

"Same reason you always wear your hair in a pony tail, to keep my hair out of my face." He replied.

"I don't always have it in a ponytail." I huffed.

"I've never seen you with your hair down."

"I've never seen the hair under that hat. I'll tell you what, if you take off the hat, I'll let my hair loose."

"Why should I?" He asked.

"My amusement. Come on," I brought my hurt leg up, "I'm injured."

He rolled his eyes and sighed "fine. I really don't see the point in this." He removed his hat, revealing. Dark -almost black- brown curls that framed his face up front and reached the nape of hi neck behind. Usually curls looks really bad on guys, but there was something about his hair that made it look good, as if he still had his baby curls: soft, shiny, and full of life.

"Your turn." He smiled. I shrugged and took my hair tie off. Large loose curls and glossy waves the color of dark mahogany wood fell lightly down my mid back. I had it cut into layers so the curls seemed to dangle in mid fall. The weird thing about my hair, is that my curls seem to have a mind of their own. Sometimes they were wild and unruly, other times they were as tame as a house cat, sometimes they weren't even there, and, on special occasions, they would add an extra layer of volume that made my already full head of hair look red carpet ready. I wondered if my hair actually did have its own hormones. Hormones or not, I loved my hair.

We stared at each other for a moment. "Ok, so you're not bald." I broke the tension.

"Excuse me?" He asked, appalled.

"I thought you wore that hat to hide a bald spot like my old coach." I said.

"Well, I thought you used a fake ponytail" he remarked. I touched the ends of my hair. Did he think my hair looked plastic? I could assure him that my hair has been touched only by the hands of scissors, and I haven't had it shorter than my shoulders since I was eleven.

"Relax, I was playing with you. You have nice hair." His eyes lingered on the few strands of hair on my face. I blushed and smiled "Really?"

"And an even nicer smile. The freckles and the dimpled cheeks just add to it." He added, causing me to turn an even brighter shade of red and say the only word I was capable of uttering. "Really?"

"Yes, really." He held his arm out again, "Now let's go, you have a game tomorrow and I need my second baseman to wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed." I laughed.

"Yes coach G." I replied.

"Call me Gabriel." He declared.  
>An idea popped into my mind. "I should call you Coquí, like the frog." I announced. He looked at me, confused."Umm, why?"<p>

"If you call me a Smurf, I get to call you something." I reasoned, earning a full laugh from him.

"There's no arguing with you, is there?" He said. I thought out his question through for a bit."You can try, but no, there really isn't."

"Really?" He asked, mocking me. I rolled my eyes. I hooked my arm around his back and let him lead the rest of the way.  
>"Yes, really."<p>

**Thank you to all of you guys who bore with me, patiently awaiting the next chapter. **

**I got a lot of things going on right now so i might not get back to chapter 7 until after homecoming (which is harry potter themed, just so you know. How frikin' cool is that?)**

**yaddah yaddah yaddah... I dont own VA... blah blah blah... **

**Okay, so lots of Spanish was used in this chapter so here are the translations. (Remember, I translate the whole phrase, not the literal meaning of the words)**

***¡Bájame!: Put me down!**  
><strong>(General spanish) <strong>

***No me asustes así pinche esqüinkle, ¿me entiendes?: Don't scare me like that stupid, understand?**  
><strong>(Mexican spanish words are 'pinche' [the equivalent to 'friggin'] and 'esqüinkle' [kid]. 'Pinche is used as an adjective but there really is no translation to the two words together as one). <strong>

***Coño chama: oh my god girl,**  
><strong>(In venezuela, 'coño' is a curse word, but you'll hear it used for anything and everything. It <em>is<em> a bad word depending on its context. Still, I wouldn't recommend you saying this to a nun or your Venezuelan boss. In every other Spanish speaking country, the word is the equivalent to the f-bomb. Chama=bro, dud, buddy... Etc...) **

***¡Ingasu!: crap!**  
><strong>(I've only heard this in Mexico when people want to curse but they don't go all out. Like instead of dropping an f-bomb, you say "fudge!")<strong>

***pitufo: Smurf**  
><strong>(General Spanish. The whole Smurf scenario may or may not be based on a true story.)<strong>

***¿Tienes frío?: are you cold?**  
><strong>(General spanish)<strong>

***Un p-p-poco: a l-l-little.**  
><strong>(General spanish, magda is stuttering)<strong>

**-Read and write on!**


	8. Chapter 7

The sun had yet to set. The looming grounds of the school were quiet, anticipating the busy Saturday morning. Birds chirped, beetles buzzed, a breeze lightly stirred the trees. The calm was so tangible, you could scoop some of it up into a plastic bag and take it home. It would only take one person to break that peace.

And that one person just happened to be me.

I raced across campus, throwing around an occasional swear. Not only was I running on a heavily bruised leg, but I was running late for the bus that would take us to our first baseball game. To my luck, I found they haven't left yet; to my disdain, I found Coach Gabriel and the rest of the team waiting for me.

"Took you long enough." He remarked. It took me quite a while to catch my breath before I could sheepishly mumble "sorry." The long trek in the sun wasn't helping much, and it had been nearly seven weeks since I had last fed. So to say I was a little off my game was a major understatement.

I limped dizzily onto the bus. Gabriel stopped me before I took my first step.

"Let me see that leg." He ordered.

I smirked "hmm, in front of everyone?" I asked playfully. The only indication that I had amused him was a slight raise in his left eyebrow and a childlike glint in his eyes; other than that, he wasn't kidding around.

I rolled my sock down. The bruise wasn't looking any better than yesterday, still a deep purple-ish blue.

He muttered a vague swear under his breath. "You can't play today."

I gasped, "WHAT?" After five weeks of grueling practice, he was going to deny me the right to play? I didn't think so.

You can't do this, please." I pleaded.

His face stayed serious. "I can do it. I am your coach. You can't play on that injured leg, I thought it would have healed partly overnight. If anything, it is worse."

"It's exactly the same as it was yesterday!" I cried in defiance.

"But you aren't. Your skin is considerably paler, you have dark circles under your eyes, and you are out of breath." He pointed out. "So?" I asked, arms crossed. "I'm Moroi, it happens when I'm in sunlight."

"That's a lie." Max stated bluntly as she got off the bus. "If you would stop being so stubborn and go to a -"

"Max!" I interrupted her midsentence. I knew she was going to say something about my lack of feedings; I just didn't expect those circumstances when she did. I stared at her in disbelief; she stared back, her face full of worry and concern for a friend. I shouldn't have been so mad at her -I mean, she was only looking out for me- but I was.

"Let Máxima finish her sentence, unless you want to do it for her. Go to a..." Gabriel prompted, cocking his head slightly to one side.

I sighed and mumbled: "A feeder. I haven't fed in a while."

"How long is 'a while', Magda?" he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

I looked down. "Umm... Six weeks, give or take." I told him. Tense silence filled the air. Gabriel looked conflicted as to what he was going to do with me. "You know I can't have you leave school grounds without you feeding right?"

I looked up. "You can't leave me behind! It's the first game!"

"Of course I can. And so help me, if you do this again, I will." he grumbled.

"But you can't just leave- wait, you're saying I can go?" I asked, wide eyed. "Really?"

He almost smiled, "Yes, really, But you owe me fifty laps around the field as soon as we get back." I cringed, "Ugh, fine, I'll go as soon as we get back." I started to get on the bus when Gabriel pulled me back.

"Oh no, I am taking you to the feeders _ahora_." He stated. I cringed, knowing I had no way of getting out. So I groaned rather uncharacteristically and limped with him toward the commons.  
>Lucky for me, no students were at the feeding station. As soon as I entered, the attendant smiled warmly. "Good morning."<p>

I forced a greeting back at her, trying to push through my acrid mood.

"May I have your name please?" She asked sweetly.

"Magda Alexandra Szelsky." I grumbled sourly. Gabriel shot me a warning look. "Be nice" he mouthed.  
>The receptionist furrowed her brow as she looked into her clipboard. She alternated her gaze between it and me, then marked something on the clip board and lead me toward a stall at the end. Gabriel followed me. "Just to make sure you don't work your way out of this one." He reasoned.<p>

"Whatever, Coquí." I said. He smirked.

I sat down in the stall. An old woman, about 65 years old, sat on the other side. Numerous bite scars dotted her neck. I tried to avoid looking at them. She looked up at me with an anxious gaze.

"Oh hello again. You haven't come in a while. You did a good job of protecting us. Thank you." She mused dreamily. The tone of voice she used was as if she were talking to an old friend. I, on the other hand, had never seen this woman in my life. I looked at Gabriel, he shrugged his shoulders, then pointed to his watch. "Hurry up, the more time you waste, the more laps you run."

I leaned closer to the woman's neck and bit into her flesh. Her blood tasted tangy and metallic, with just a smidgen of sweet. At first, I wanted to pull away as soon as I sank my fangs in. However, there is no stopping instinct once it takes control.

Suddenly I was pulled back into a memory I would have rather left forgotten. Flashes of spattered blood and of appendages being ripped from Gabe's torso crossed my sight. His gurgled screams pierced the air. Watching his life taken from him so brutally and to simultaneously watch the events unfold from both perspectives came to be too much to handle. I snapped out of it and pulled myself away from the old lady, regretting almost instantly having taken blood from her. The old lady didn't seem to mind, though; she drifted into the high caused by the endorphins in my spit. I tried not to think about just how nasty it was that she enjoyed being munched on or how the guilt that filled the pit of my stomach and seemed to get heavier and heavier with each passing second. Instead, I turned my attention over to Gabriel.

"Can we go now?" I asked shakily.

"Yes."

I stood up and looked at the old woman. "Umm... Thank you?" I said, but she was way off in her own little world to notice.

Gabriel and I left toward the bus area. As usual, he had his guardian mask firmly rooted. That guy could be a real mystery sometimes. At certain moments he was real sweet, other times he was a strict pain in the ass. I swore he could get more bipolar than the weather in Florida.

We hardly spoke during the walk back, and the bus ride wasn't that eventful... Aside from the god-awful head ache that started as soon as we left the school grounds.

Lucky for me, I had a whole seat to myself. I curled up into a ball and wished the pain away, not that it would work anyways. Haunting phantoms surrounded me, staring at me with accusing eyes. What they wanted this time I wasn't too sure, but god, did they ever complicate my life.

I wrapped my arms around myself, digging my nails into my shoulders so hard that I actually drew blood. I bit back a yelp; as long as no one noticed I'd be fine. Besides, the ghosts probably wanted some kind of blood sacrifice from me so they would leave me alone... Or maybe that was just me watching way too many movies. Either way, that obviously wasn't working out too well since the pressure inside my head only got worse. I felt as though my skull was about to shatter; actually I hoped it did shatter so that maybe the pain would cease.

I thought back to the last time my head hurt that bad. Mrs. Parris found me in a similar position and gave me advice on how to push this head ache away. _Just like stacking Legos_, I told myself. It was a long and grueling process, but I finally managed to block the ghosts out once more. Exhausted but satisfied with my latest achievement, I chose to take a little nap.

Then, Mrs. Parris showed up in my dream.

I wasn't dreaming anything specific per se. I just thought of my old backyard and like some crazy magic, I was there, along with Mrs. Parris. _Weird..._  
>"Wow, I should relax more, all this school work has got me dreaming about the teachers." I commented. Mrs. Parris laughed joyously, causing the ground underneath us to sprout flowers.<br>_What a trip!_ I thought, letting out a giggle that could only be categorized as girly beyond belief.

"You know, it's not every day I meet someone like you." She mused.

"Umm... I'm not too sure what my reply to that comment should be..." I said. Oh god, if this was one of those weird ass epiphany dreams where the teacher was about to tell the student that she had to save her people or some other crap like that I was going to flip the hell out.

"Well for one, you're covered in shadows. I have seen that once last year, on one of the senior novices, who you strangely resemble... Anyways, I tried to talk to her about her strange aura but-"  
>"Whoa whoa whoa; wait just a minute there, did you say aura? Like the freaky light thing that's supposed to surround your body?" I asked, clearly confused. I knew my history teacher was a little on the kooky side, but at the moment I thought she was insane. That would make two of us, I thought.<p>

"Yes and no, it's like a range of colors. But you, you're surrounded by a darkness similar to the one surrounding you six weeks ago. Are you okay?" She asked, true concern in her hazel eyes.

"Yup! Never better!" I fudged smoothly.

Her eyes narrowed, a glimmer of hurt momentarily flashed on her face. "O...kay." She searched me up and down, looking for the truth, her scrutinized gaze fixed on my exposed- and still bruised- shin.

"Well well, what is this?" She tsked.

"It is what happens when you get a little too friendly with the pitching machine after practice." I shrugged as I sat down on the grass, relishing the cool, moist, REALNESS of it while avoiding her scrutiny. Mrs. Parris knelt beside me, her eyes firmly locked on the bruise. Determination and longing flashed through them as some force that I can only describe as raw power radiated from every pore in her body. She placed the tips of her fingers on the injury, with that came a strong surge of what felt like both fire and ice. A sweet, tingly sensation followed, and then vanished along with the bruise.

I stood-well, sat- there for about four seconds. I didn't know where to yell, laugh, scream, or cry. Rarely was I ever speechless, but never was I more incapable of uttering a peep until that moment. It wasn't until Mrs. Parris took her hands off me that I took a breath.

When I looked at her, I almost swore she was another person. On the outside she appeared normal, but something was off. That raw power I felt from her only moments ago was tainted with something, something dark and ominous. Mrs. Parris evidently carried the brunt of whatever caused that dark energy. I could see it through her glazed eyes; something was wrong, very wrong. I didn't want her to go on like that.

"Mrs. P?"

"I am fine, child." Her words were like empty shells, they lacked any true substance.

"No, you aren't," I placed a hand on her shoulder. _Man, if I could only do whatever she just did to me to her. _

And with that thought, I placed my palm on her forehead, letting out exactly what I felt when she healed me. I've never wielded a magic as strong as that one, but what I manipulated those few seconds was beyond reason, and it just felt so damn amazing that I didn't want to stop. In that short moment I felt everything that made the world a good and harmonious place: honesty, generosity, kindness, laughter, loyalty and just a pinch of magic. But somewhere in that moment of simple happiness, a sliver of darkness seemed to penetrate the walls of my light. Although it looked small, it held a threat. That small ribbon of darkness would grow, and it would grow to consume me, leaving my mind in its dark midst. The realization startled me from using that power, and I was brought back into the -figuratively speaking- real world.

"_WHAT DID YOU JUST DO_?" Mrs. P asked. Enraged, she grabbed me square the shoulders and shook me, hard.

"I-I- I don't know, I saw you do it and then you looked at me all crazy psycho like and I tried to help you." I stuttered. I honestly thought I was helping her, but I don't think she took it as help, but if her previous "gratitude" wasn't enough, her next actions would be. Still holding my shoulders, she looked me square in the eye, and blinked.

Then I woke up.

"Hey _nena,_ you are finally awake. Looks like you slept through most of the ride. Too bad, you missed out on some of the really funny things the guys have been doing." Gabriel remarked in his somewhat heavy Spanish accent.

"Oh" was all I said, too bemused by what was going on in my head to pay attention to him.  
><em>What had just happened?<em> One minute I was surrounded my ghosts, the next I was sleeping. But that was it; that was all I remembered.

I tried shaking that nagging tug at the back of my mind. Something had happened, but what?

"Hello? Calling lieutenant Smurf, can you hear to me?" Gabriel, or Coquí as was his new nickname, snapped his fingers in my face.

"The hell? I'm not a dog coach, please don't snap your fingers in my face. And its either 'hear me', or 'listen to me.'" I snapped.

"Well I wouldn't have snapped in your face if you listened. And don't mock my accent if you don't want another twenty laps."

"No sir!" I saluted military style. I didn't want to mock his accent, I could do that to anyone; what I really liked to mock was his less-than-perfect usage of grammar. It may sound a bit cruel, but everyone had to have some fault. His just happened to be easy to make fun of.

"I see... How's the leg?" He asked. No longer feeling it throbbing or hurting at all I replied honestly, "It's great. I don't feel it hurting anymore. Gabriel didn't believe me, which was to be expected. "Uh huh, show me." Once again I rolled down my sock. Now I would have expected the bruise to fade just a bit. But I most certainly didn't expect it to be gone completely.  
><em> "Desapareció."<em> He breathed.

"No duh."

"But how?" He asked. Truthfully I didn't know how to answer that. Although I couldn't shake the feeling that I did know, something was just preventing me from remembering. I shrugged my shoulders, "Maybe the baseball gods wanted me to play today."

He shook off the thought, although I'd wish he'd press me on so he could help me figure it out. I leaned back against my seat and moaned.

"Hey um Magders?" A soft voice asked me from behind. A voice I'd rather not talk to at the moment. "Magda, look I know you're mad-"

"Really? I never guessed. Thank you for telling me exactly how I feel because I truly had no idea. You might want to think about changing careers from guarding to psychiatry." I grumbled.

"Look I'm trying to tell you something but if you would please stop yelling-"

"This isn't yelling. Yelling is what you did inside this bus trying to get our coaches goddamn attention and get me in deeper shit. When I wake up tomorrow and can't get out of my bed because I am sore everywhere I'll make sure to say 'gee that Max, what a helpful girl. I will make sure to thank her as soon as I get up, oh wait! I can't get up now can I?'"

She huffed " you know, for such a tiny person, you can be real..." She struggled to find the right words

"Bitchy?" I offered.

"Hard headed. I'd rather have you running a million laps in the moonlight than pass out and quite possibly not ever wake up again. What were you thinking going six weeks without a feeding? What do you have a death wish or something?" I stayed quiet, opting to stare at the verdant Montana landscape instead. The late sun's rays were peeking through the trees, and I loved basking it its soft orange glow. The sun would always be my own private indulgence, and I wouldn't share it with anyone. I mulled over Max's question... _Did I have a death wish?_ Would I honestly stoop so far as to take away my own life? With the way my mind was spinning out of control I began to doubt my own self-discipline, what little of it I had anyways. Maybe that's why I was more snippy than usual. I sighed finally, "Not at the moment Max, no."

"Then why wait?" Her voice was growing softer.

Gabe's last moments flitted through my vision again as I felt my walls growing weak again. His ghost materialized beside me, stroking my hair as he rested his icy cold transparent head against my shoulder. "Long story."

"Will you ever tell me it?" She inquired. I shrugged. "Maybe, you know, if I'm ever ready to spill out my sob story."

She shook her head and smiled mischievously, "How does so much sarcasm fit into such a little per-" I threw my cap at her, "OW!"

"I get it! I'm short. You know, I'm normal sized in the human world. Damn all of you guys and your abnormal half-vamp height." I feigned being insulted. Although I was still ticked off because of the whole snitch- situation, it didn't impede me from messing around with her.

"We're here!" Ray announced, waving his arms like the maniac he was. Gabe vanished in an instant without his farewell. _Jeez, bye to you too, bro_. He was met by a collective applause -kind of corny if you ask me- from the team, followed by an ambush crowding the door, all eager to test the new field.

"Whoa look at the school grounds!" Ray chimed. I glanced out the window. Big Sky Preparatory was a fairly humble sized building, it looked like it could fit a student body of about 300 kids. Compared to our school, it was rather little; our freshman population itself was about 200 students, not to mention the remaining grades. "It's so small!" Frank noted.

"You morons it is a high school, they only have the four grade levels in the building. Besides, unlike us, these kids get to go home after school, there aren't any dorms." Kevin rolled his eyes. "The lucky bastards." He added under his breath.

The teammates nodded slightly in agreement. I could sense the envy in the bus. Those kids most likely had a family to turn into. They had open futures ahead of them. Some would make it, others wouldn't. But they had the luxury of the choice. Apart from myself, no one else on that bus had the privilege of choosing their path, and sadly some would pay it with their lives. So many Dhampirs were being forced into becoming guardians. And if the court did not repeal the age law -and soon-, the sophomores would be sworn guardians along with the juniors and seniors no questions asked. That would be me next year, but I chose that career despite the wishes of Moroi kind. I believe that the Moroi grow weak by choice, and I was not one to sit around and be Strigoi chow. I would train and guard those who really needed protection from the evil undead. Maybe I was foolish, reckless and acting like some storybook Mary Sue, but this generation needed those who weren't afraid of taking those leaps. And -cocky as it may sound- I took great pride in being the one percent.

The team squeezed their way out of the bus, only to come in contact with the other team.  
>Both sides moved closer to one another, sizing the other one up. The guys at big sky were big, a little too big to be normal humans. One extra look and I noticed how most of them wore a silver tattoo on their left forearms. Those who didn't were scrawny and probably played the all-important position of bench warmer or water boy.<p>

"Vamps huh? What the hell kind of name is that?" Said one of the larger teammates. "Seems to me that they've run out of ideas."

"Are you honestly trying to size us up based on our names?" I scoffed, insulted at their lame attempt at putting the team down. "That's just sad." Max echoed my thoughts exactly.

"Ooh, watch out, they brought cheerleaders." Another jeered. My fingers twitched at my side, ready to punch the kid in the face.

"They're with us." Frank intercepted.

"Aww, don't you know sharing is caring?" Said the first one to comment, placing his hand on Max's shoulder. "I am _so_ not interested." Max growled in utter disgust.

"Come on sweetie belle, let me show you a great time. You, me, behind the bleachers…"

"She said no, quit it." I spat. "Or else what, shrimp? Will you bite me?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. _Not him too…_

"You have no idea." I smiled maliciously, earning some snickers from my team.

"Feisty. I like you better already. I'm into girls with a spark, as an added bonus you've got a nice sizable pair of-"

"You better finish that sentence with 'eyes' unless you want a nice sizable pair of fists breaking your nose." Kevin interjected, surprising me with his protective behavior, especially after what I did yesterday.

"Whoa, damn I'm sorry. I didn't know dibs were called, sheesh." He sneered.

"Okay, seriously, what the _hell_? _No one_ calls dibs on me. Secondly, my _BOYFRIEND_ is back at school, and third, _he_ doesn't have to fight for me, because _I_ can beat _you_ up all _on my_ _own_." I threatened, feeling a dark heat churn in the back of my mind.

"Care to put your money where your mouth is b-" before he could finish that word, Max intervened "Why don't we settle this with what we came for?"

I cooled down, a little. "Sure, why not?" He motioned over to his team, and then nodded toward us. "Visitors bat first.

"Yeah yeah, we know the rules." said Frank. We walked off, but not before I saw one of the untattooed boys nudge another player. "Did you see that? The girl had fangs!" Oops, my bad.

I rolled my eyes as I joined the team huddle. "So boys and gal, what is our plan?" Gabriel emerged from behind "Start off lightly, amp it up on the defense, and jump into offense mode at the fourth inning. That goes strictly for you Magda, I don't want you hitting anything more than a double these first few innings. If you guys can time your swings right, I want you hitting towards the left field. As for defense, no catching bear-handed."

"Frank." Leo commented between faked coughs. Gabriel rolled his eyes and continued. "Remember the tactics I've taught you. Always go for the unexpected play at the unexpected time."

"You stole that from a movie." I countered. Gabriel did the nifty one-eyebrow thing. "Yes I did, and it is a great line from a great movie. One last thing: have fun you guys."

"Vamps on three?" Leo offered. We all joined our hands in the center of the huddle. "1,2,3 VAMPS!" We yelled in unison as we threw our hands up.

Like our coach predicted, we didn't have to go all out during the first few innings. What we did have to watch out for was the pitcher, who always aimed to hit us. I couldn't tell if he was purposefully going for us or if they just put him in that position because he threw hard; it was most likely the first but I was willing to pay a few dollars that the untattooed kid who called me out on my fangs would make a way better pitcher were he given the chance.  
>The pitcher had already walked seven of us before it came my time at bat. I awaited the signal from coach. He wanted me to take one. I listened to him and when he threw, I purposefully didn't swing. Ironically, he pitched right in my strike zone, lower that most balls but just high enough for the blue to shout: "SSSTRIIIIIKE ONE!"<p>

I threw a glance at Gabriel on the box, and he motioned for me to swing away. I did exactly that, earning a single and a run for my team.

The next eight innings weren't as easy, our opponents were strong, very strong. We decided amongst ourselves that they must've been talking steroids or some other substance because there was no way a high school student could be that big... _Unless they weren't human_. They couldn't be Dhampirs though, sure they were fast but they lacked a certain agility and reaction time that the vampire gene gave out.

"Maybe it has to do with the tattoos, like they're all part of this freaky cult and their rituals give them super speed and strength." Ray mentioned. I sighed. "Dude I have got to stop letting you sneak into my room to watch movies on pay-per-view."

"He's onto something though, haven't you noticed how all the big guys have the tacky silver tattoos and how the smaller guys are clear skinned?"

"You're right Max, coach? What do you think?"

"I think it's your turn at bat." He answered tersely. I shook my head. Ugh! He was hiding his feelings again.

It was the top of the ninth and we were tied 5-5. I had two outs, one man on second base and no strikes. If I could hit a triple then I would ensure we had a chance to win. The pressure was just enough to give me the era edge needed to hit the ball well into left field. Without thinking, I sprinted as fast as my legs could carry me. I made it to third base, but when the first baseman over threw the ball, I made yet another run for it. The ball and I moved at much the same speed, so when the catcher tried to block my slide, I leaped over him and landed with both feet on the base.

"Safe!" The umpire screeched out. I was met by the cheers of my team mates, who lined up at the dugout to high five me. Gabriel waited by the entrance_. "¿Qué fue eso?"_ He asked with a light expression.  
><em> "La jugada inesperada en el momento inesperado." <em>I answered. He let out a breezy laugh. "See? You have to admit that the line is a good one." I smiled, "It's a passable line. It's not epic, just passable."

"Uh huh, well get your glove it's time to defend those two runs."

We did a pretty good job at defending those two runs. Max struck the first two batters out without breaking a sweat. Then it came time for the last batter, who happened to be the guy who came onto Max and me. Max threw him a signature fast ball, which he hit far enough along left field to give him enough time to make a run for second. But as he neared my assigned based I was already waiting for him with the ball. He saw this and made a dash for first, but I threw the ball at Kevin, who waited for me. Seeing this, he made a full charged sprint toward me. Kevin tossed the ball. I caught it and pointed at the runner, he was most definitely out. He saw this too and instead of charging for the slide, he charged at _me_. I was tackled to the ground, hitting my head in the process, though I never let go of that ball. I tagged him out, only to be confirmed by the ump; "YOU ARE _OUTTA HERE_!" He screamed. The opposing teammate kicked the clay in frustration, making some of it fall in my eyes. Leo came from third base to help me up.

"Great job there." His voiced sounded a bit muffled, but I understood him.

"Uh huh." I said as I got up. My vision swam, blurry images merged together and I didn't know which way was left or which way was right. I did somehow manage to line up with the team to high five the other team. But as we loaded up the bus I had to ask coach for assistance in going up the steps.

He asked me something that sounded vaguely like if I was okay. I shook my head, along with the deja vu of six weeks prior, came a fading knowledge of the world. As the fuzzy images blended together, the last thing I remember was Gabriel catching me just before I passed out.

I awoke to someone flashing a light in my eyes.

"Amanda, can you hear me?" A soft female voice asked.

"It's Magda." I whined. My name isn't even close to Amanda, why say it?

She turned off her mini flash light. My eyes focused around the room. It smelled like disinfectant and mint. The room looked like some odd crossover of a hospital and a dorm. And the doctor was the same lady who attended frank when he broke his hand.

"Well, I'm either in a rehab center or in the schools infirmary. And since I don't do drugs my guess is the school infirmary. Damn, did I hurt my head that hard?"

"Well since you remember all that my diagnosis is a moderate concussion. You've been unconscious for twelve hours now. You gave your coach quite the scare."

"Yeah I can imagine..." I chuckled. Whoa, twelve hours. That has got to be a record. "So doc, when can I leave?"

"I'm keeping you here the night just to make sure you are fine."

"Okay then." I was pretty sure I'd escape in the next half hour anyways.

"But in the meantime, I want to talk to you about something important. Wait here." She walked out of the room, only to walk in with four different people: Gabriel, the attendant at the feeder station, Chief Alberta, and Head Mistress Kirova.

"Miss Szelsky, we need to have a little chat." The head mistress stated.

Oh, crud.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hi everyone. Yes I know it's been a long time since the last update (almost three months!). Hopefully this chapter makes up for the lost time. It is 12 pages long on word, or 5,298 words to be exact. I hope you enjoy! <strong>_

_***Translations:**_

_**Ahora= right now**_

_**Desapareció= it disappeared**_

_**Qué fue eso= what was that**_

_**La jugada inesperada en el momento inesperado=the unexpected play at the unexpected time.**_

_***Baseball Word of the day:**_

_**Blue/ ump: the umpire**_

_***note: any bronies or pegasisters or trolls out there recognize the references? The fanfic is now 20% cooler.**_


	9. Chapter 8

I've heard rumors about head mistress Kirova. I heard she was one to give sermons instead of just telling them what exactly he or she did wrong. Well, that day I found out they weren't just rumors. Turns out my name was withdrawn from the list, seeing as I never went in for a feeding. When she went to report the discrepancies, they discovered how long I have actually gone without a feeding.

"Are you not aware that our kind can't survive without drinking blood? I have had students pass out from going two days without. My question is: how did you survive _six weeks_ without feeding."

I answered with a shrug, "Easy, and it goes pretty well for me."

"How well did that go for you yesterday?"

I paused, "It certainly wasn't one of my best days. I passed out because some jerk-off rammed into me."

"And would the same thing have happened had you fed routinely?" The doctor asked. "That doesn't count!"

"It does count, Rosemarie!" Alberta cut in.

"Rosemarie? Okay, I know for a fact that definitely isn't my name unless I hit my head harder than I thought." I said. Realization flashed through both their eyes, then all three laughed.

The conversation turned serious once more as they calmed down.

"From now on, Magda, " Alberta carefully said, a trace of a smile lay faint on her face, "you will be escorted to and from feedings every day. We can't put the health of a student in jeopardy."

"EVERY DAY? You can't be serious!" I yelled, causing my vision to swim a little.

"Quite serious in fact, but I'm at a loss to take your punishment any further. Since this is your first call to my office," Kirova paused, thinking her words more thoroughly, "figuratively speaking, you get off with a warning."

"AND the feedings." I grumbled.

The attendant huffed. "That's not a punishment."

I shot the woman a look "You stay out of this." She raised her arms in mock resignation.

I turned towards Kirova. "May I ask you something?"

"You may..." she said, weary of what I was going to say. "Have I broken any rule? Like is there a rule that states how often you're supposed to feed?" She eyed me for a long time. "No, there isn't."

I raised my hands. "Then I don't really see why I am being forced to go to the feeders."  
>Kirova was at a loss for words. I suppressed a smirk that threatened to appear. Anyways it would have been wiped off with what Alberta was just about to say.<p>

"Magda, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, chief, shoot."

"Seeing as you primarily take novice training classes, would you consider yourself a novice?" I had no idea where she was going with this conversation. "Um, yeah?"

"Aren't all novices graded upon their ability to follow orders given by the chief?"

Still unsure of her direction, I nodded slowly. "Yes Ma'am."

"Who is the chief of this school?" She raised a dark eyebrow... Wow it's crazy the things I noticed, but I was kind of getting tired of being the only person I knew who couldn't do that.

"I didn't quite catch that." She barked.

I jolted back. "Hmm? Oh! Well, you're the chief."

"Well then, Magda, I directly order you to be escorted every morning promptly at 3 to the feeders by Guardian Espinoza." she didn't even think about hiding the sly smile that slowly crept onto her face.

I let out frustrated sigh, but I wasn't the first to react to her orders.

"Every morning at three?" Gabriel asked, his formal guardian voice cracking a bit. "That's very early."

I only just remembered that he worked two shifts and now he would have to wake up an extra four hours earlier. I suddenly felt very bad for my coach, but as soon as I remembered I still owed him laps, I felt bad for myself as well.

"Yes, but there is no one there at that time so it will be much simpler to keep an eye on her."

I could sense he was about to protest, but he thought better of it and kept his mouth sealed. He looked at me bitterly. Damn and I thought we were getting on better terms.

"This is just great; fantastic, ever. Is there anything else you want to say so you can ruin my Sunday _more_?"

"No, we're done here. Have a good rest, Miss Szelsky." The head mistress said as she swiftly turned tail and left.

"So how's Frankie doing on the field?" Alberta asked as she walked out with Gabriel and the rest of the procession.  
>I rested my head on the pillow and closed my eyes. I would sneak out of there later, or so I hoped.<p>

_Sneaking into the back seat of a car wasn't fun.  
><em>

_First of all, I was not one for small spaces; just being there made me claustrophobic. Secondly, I was hiding near a pair of more-than-used gym socks; the rotten fumes were enough to drive me insane. But if I was going to put a stop to my brother's wrongdoing, I had to do it.  
><em>

_Lately, my brother has been sneaking out a lot. I would never tell him, but I always knew where he was. His emotions usually ran very high at that time, so it was like I was sucked into his brain.  
><em>

_Wait, maybe I should take this a little farther back.  
><em>

_My mother always said that Gabe and I had a major brother and sister bond going on. But I doubt many sisters could see their brothers' thoughts. When I tried to tell him, he didn't believe me, so I learned to stay quiet. I saw him sleeping with other girls, and it wasn't something an eight year old could easily forget. I felt dirty and violated; I spent a good four weeks huddled in my room, crying.  
><em>

_Soon, Gabe was doing all kinds of stuff: drinking, drugs, sex, you name it, and he'd probably have it in his system. And that would result in me feeling the side effects of whatever he did, which never ended up well. I had my first true hangover in the third grade. I barely knew what a hangover actually was, so trying to give my teacher an excuse for that was most definitely not a walk in the park.  
><em>

_Now he couldn't get his stash from home, Oh no, he had to go out at dead time, and drive up to god knows where to get some from his "provider" Kyle. So I decided to sneak into his car and follow him the next time.  
><em>

_The car ride took a good hour. Then he stopped suddenly and got out. I counted to ten, got out of the car, and gasped for air. My next mission: get Gabe to wash his gym clothes, pronto.  
><em>

_Gabe had driven to a VIP parking lot in Coco Walk, the only place he would trust to keep his beloved Maserati convertible safe; but I knew he wouldn't stay there. I tried to reach into his mind, something that I hadn't mastered 'till about two years ago.  
><em>

_Just like I guessed, Gabe was walking toward the uglier side of town. I followed him to the back of a rundown convenience store.  
>Just then someone drove up to where Gabe stood.<br>_

_And then he pointed a gun at him.  
><em>

_"Listen Darrell, I've got your money here, there's no need for this." my brother stammered.  
>Darrell cocked his gun. "You lied to me boy, I needed the goddamn green last week. And where the fuck was you, huh?"<br>_

_"My sister had this play and-"  
><em>

_"Shuddup! There 'ain't no 'scuses no more."  
>Fear poured through the bond, along with something dark and ugly that could break him any second. Without thinking, I pulled away the darkness.<br>I didn't know why, but as soon as I pulled away the darkness, I snapped. I got out of my hiding place and stood right in front of my brother.  
><em>

_"I wouldn't do that if I were you." I threatened.  
><em>

_Darrell laughed so hard the car shook. "You got a fourth grade pipsqueak to guard your little white ass?"  
><em>

_"I'm a sixth grader. And I really think you should stop laughing, unless you don't want to live the rest of your pathetic existence in one piece.  
>Darrell's face turned serious. He looked me square in the eye, a big mistake on his part.<br>_

_I let myself into his mind. The man had no family, no job- besides this one- and no one true place to call his home. I was more than sure no one would miss him if he died.  
>I searched deeper into his mind until I found what I was looking for: fear. Fear itself takes many shapes and forms; but what really scared Darrell were rats, oddly enough. I took advantage of the situation and projected his worst fear before him.<br>_

_He twitched and shook violently as he screamed bloody murder. But there was no one around to hear him.  
><em>

_"Magda, whatever you are doing, stop it now. People are going to find out." Gabe commanded. I didn't mind him. I pictured the windows rolling up so they wouldn't hear him. To my surprise, the widows rolled up on their own.  
><em>

_It was then that I discovered I could move things with my mind. Almost effortlessly, I raised the car up a good ten feet off the ground. I then made it do little flips I the air, enjoying the sound of Darrel's muffled screams.  
><em>

_"No way," my brother breathed, "Magda stop this NOW."  
><em>

_Some part of me wanted to stop already, he got his scare. But no matter how hard that part of me tried to pull back, I couldn't stop. It was like I was taken over by some dark spirit, which didn't look like she was going anywhere for a long time.  
><em>

_"Magda, snap out of this please."  
><em>

_"No brother," I said in a voice I barely recognized, "he needs to suffer."  
><em>

"¡Basta!"_ He commanded in a voice so piercing and clear cut, it was impossible not to obey. I instantly snapped out of my trance; the traces of darkness dissipated, leaving me both exhausted and confused. At the same moment, my control on both Darrell's mind and car was lost. The car dropped on the passenger side.  
><em>

_Without hesitation this time, Darrell found his gun and fired. Frightened, I shoved the car into the wall of the convenience store. Sparks flew from the car's broken wiring, which upon meeting the cars fuel tank, caused the vehicle to explode into many unidentifiable pieces of metal.  
><em>

_Gabe grabbed my hand and told me to run and not stop until we reached the car. I did as I was told, but I wasn't able to reach the car. My adrenaline had gone down enough for me to feel pain, and boy did I feel it. I fell to my knees. I looked down at my side, and saw only blood. Damn, I guessed Darrell must've gotten his lucky shot. I collapsed and weakly called to Gabe. As soon as I was in his arms, I passed out. I vaguely remember the same hot and cold sensation before..._

I woke up again. This time to meet Gabriel's worried mossy gaze. He cocked his head to one side; I had to admit he was rather good-looking when he wasn't pissed off at me.

"Are you ok?" He asked, truly concerned.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Let's see, you suffered a concussion that left you unconscious for half a day, you were just reprimanded by the head mistress, and you were shut up quite embarrassingly by the school chief-"

"Wow, thanks for the memo, coach." I bit out.  
>His face softened, "The real tip off was the fact that you are crying."<p>

"I am not!" I defended. But sure enough, little bead-like tears silently slid down my cheeks. I dried them quickly. I hated crying in public; it was a sign of weakness and vulnerability that I tried my best to hide.

I thought of my most recent dream, which was like reliving a nightmare. Every last detail of that dream had actually happened. It reminded me of what I was capable of.

I would never resort to that power again.

I remembered the exact spot where Darrell shot me. I lifted my shirt just enough so I would see the scar. "Yeah, still there," I sighed ruefully.

"Is that..."

"Eeyup." I finished for him. He kept eyeing the faded purple scar as if something did not register with him: "When did this happen?"

"Almost four years ago. The coolest part it that the bullet is still there."  
>I thought the scar was pretty cool, no matter how many memories it brought back.<p>

"How?"

"Long story short: I stopped my brother from doing something stupid." I relayed. His eyebrow shot up in thought. "You were very protective of your older brother weren't you?"

I gave him a sad smile. "He was the only one my parents let me talk to while growing up in Mexico. We stayed close in St. Lourdes. Then the school was attacked and we got even closer."

"So you must've been devastated when he was killed." He observed. "Devastated doesn't even scratch the surface. When he died-" I choked up. I paused for a moment, fighting back those traitor tears that would only come when I talked about Gabe, "When he died it was like he ripped off a part of me and took it with him to the grave."

He stayed quiet. Then he smiled and placed his hand over mine. It was rough and callous, but still held a warmth and gentleness to it that I only wished I could possess. "So you chose to become a guardian because you saw what happened to Gabriel and you want to prevent that from happening to those who deserve to be protected... Am I close?"

I blinked. "Bulls eye."

"That's noble of you." He reasoned.

"Well, yeah. But sometimes I think that I don't have to guard a Moroi to protect others. Do you know how skewed that could get. 'Stop, Mr. big tough Strigoi dude! I'm here to guard this Moron who could have spared a few classes to at least learn to defend himself. But since _I _am Moroi, you can come straight for me and take him as a second course.'" My rant earned a hearty laugh from the guy.

"Seriously though, this school is full of those who can protect themselves. I mean, what happened to the times when our kinds fought side by side? All the Moroi do nothing but sit on their flat, bony asses all day doing lame ass magic tricks and sipping blood and wine until they die. Just like my father will." I said.  
>"You should not speak like that about your father, even If you do not like him." he reprimanded me.<br>"Well, I don't _not_ like him; he is my father after all. I mean he's just... Boring."

He laughed for no apparent reason, as if I just referenced an inside joke, "Your father is not boring."

"You don't know him. He sells flowers for a living. Then he goes on these yearlong conferences about gardenias in Japan or Russia or some other random country."  
>He laughed harder now. "A flower seller, really?"<p>

"So you see my pain." I groaned.

"You never know, people may surprise you." he gave a sly smile.

I groaned "You act like you work for him."

He shrugged.

"So besides waking me up why did you come?" I asked.

"Its 3..." He trailed off before I groaned and pulled off the covers.

"Um... Are you sure your walking like that to the feeders station?" He pointed at my bare feet; they must've taken my shoes and socks off while I was sleeping. I raisedmy shoulders. "Sure, why not?" jeez, it was like people never saw feet in this damn school.

At the station I was greeted by the same lady who attended me two days ago. I made sure that she knew I was more than unhappy with her and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. She smiled cloyingly at me. I swore if Gabriel wasn't there, I would have punched her so hard she'd lose a fang.

We were lead into the same room that I was sent to the last time. And who better to feed me than the crazy old lady who thought I was some other person?

"You're back." She mused.

"As I will be tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day and pretty much every day until I graduate." I said.

"Well it's a good thing your protector is here to keep us company. I've always said that three's a party."

"Um he's not my protector..." Gabriel smirked.

"No, I am your coach. You will be the protector soon enough."

"Yeah, if I don't flunk out of my Moroi elements class first."

"You have talents for more powerful than many Moroi and you know it. But you are afraid to use it lest the darkness take you over- like it has done be-"I sunk my fangs into the old woman's neck before she could say any more. She let out a euphoric sigh, which I found disgusting. I didn't know what freaked me out more, the fact that the old woman knew about my 'powers' or the fact that the taste of her blood didn't bother me as much as it did the last time I had fed.

I finished with the old woman and stood up to leave. She was too far off in her mind to notice me leave. Gabriel led the way; as I followed him I could have sworn I heard the woman say: "You are more dangerous if you don't hone in those powers of yours. The darkness is always watching, always."  
>I shrugged it off and left. "Crazy old woman." I muttered<p>

The following morning I was released from my medical prison. The day breezed by pretty swimming. My fellow novices welcomed me back by graciously jacking all the Bavarian cream donuts and churros they found at the lunch line. I think I might've had a little food baby showing after such a feast. We talked about sports and trainings as if I hadn't been gone for the past two days.

Then Aimee showed up. "Magda, the şef wants to know now."

I stopped eating my Twinkie. "Huh?"

"He wants to know if you're in the Mână or not." She looked down in resignation, which struck me as odd.

"What is it with me joining your secret royal fan club anyways?" I said, almost spitting the cream filling in her face.

"Look I only do the inviting, but he really wants you tonight by the east gates at twelve. And if you don't come," she stopped. She looked like she desperately wanted to complete her sentence! It was as though her tongue dried up inside her mouth. She sighed in resignation: "I just need you to go. Please?"

I don't know whether it was pity, or a divine act of compassion, but I felt the need to help Aimee; I had a feeling that something crappy would happen if she didn't get me to go. "Fine I'll go. But one fishy move and _adios_."

A huge weight lifted off Aimee's shoulders as her mood instantly perked up. "Thanks... I... I owe you one." She stood up and turned tail. She took about two steps before quickly turning round and adding. "Just don't let them give you any jewel- Ahh!" She winced and almost collapsed. I shot up to help her, but before I knew it, she was up and running back into the hall way."

I was left standing there, bewildered. My lunch mates snickered. I shot them a glare: "What?"

Max rolled her eyes, "that Aimee is such a drama queen. Why would you help her anyways? Isn't she-"

"Majorly bitchy?" I offered.

"Always putting you down," she corrected, "Isn't it odd that she's nice all of a sudden?"  
>I considered it. There was something she wanted to get across when she talked to me but just couldn't find the words.<p>

_Or she's being compelled._

The thought crossed my mind before I could think it trough. But at the moment it seemed like one of the most reasonable conclusions I could make. "I don't know," I told her, "but I doubt that she was acting it out."

"What makes you think that?" She asked between bites of her salad. Eww, rabbit food.

I smiled mischievously: "She just sucks that bad."

Ray, Leo, and Frankie laughed outright.

After school, and about an hour of rummaging through my closet, I stealthily made my way over to the east gates.

Sure enough, a couple of people were huddled underneath a tree. Aimee was with them, searching desperately for someone. Was her eyes fell over me , she breathed a huge sigh of relief. "See, told you she'd come through."

I felt the eyes of the others on me, probably searching for signs of weakness. Besides Aimee, I didn't know any one there. I recognized a few of the faces from Brett's party, but none of those whom I considered friends were there. So why was I there?

I would have come up with various reasons as to why, but a hooded figure spoke before I could get the chance. "State your name."

"No. You should know who I am since _you_ were the one calling for me." I bit back.

The figure hesitated: "Magda Alexandra Szelsky."

"So why am I here? You know besides attending this whole warped Masonic lodge meeting thing."

"This is not a lodge. We are a congregation of the most elite who stand to take action into our own hands. Whether politically, by force, or by use of our divine magic."  
>"Well that either makes this whole Mână shpiel a lodge, a mafia, or a coven. You choose."<p>

"Cut the crap."

"You know, this isn't really how you get people to join."

"Oh, we don't want you to join." One of the hooded figures laughed. Out of nowhere, a large rock pelted me in the face.  
>Aimee gasped "Shura, this wasn't what you told me to bring her for. This isn't what we do. Stop it." She ordered another hooded figure.<p>

"You don't tell me what to do!". He said in a cold and frightening tone. There was something vaguely familiar about his voice, but I just couldn't place my finger on it.

"Continue."

More rocks were being thrown at me. I tried blocking most of them, catching the brunt of it with my forearms, but it didn't really ease the pain.

"What the fuck?" I yelled.

"Because of you we lost a valuable asset from our group. You think we'd let you slide?"

"She brought that on herself. There's an unwritten law that states: No one messes with Magda. A pissed off Magda will fuck you up if you try. Now leave me alone, now."  
>Another rock hurtled toward me, but I sent it back to its owner at twice the speed. I lifted everyone but Aimee off the ground and pushed them away as far as I could. One of them hurtled towards a tree head first, but Aimee slowed his impact with a gust of wind. She used her magic to propel herself towards me and pin me to the ground.<p>

"Stop please, we can't have a full blown elemental fight."

"No, Aimee. Get off!" I shrieked like a banshee, "they're mine."

"Hold on, this isn't you. You're an insane person, but this is something else. Calm down now before someone gets hurt, you have no idea what could happen if you continue."

That cold slap in the face made me freeze. "Why are you doing this? You hate me. Well, actually, that explains why I'm here but why must you back down now?"

"Things aren't always black and white. I may dislike you because you are an overly talented, too-perfect, self-righteous Mary Sue, but no one deserves this. Now just get up and leave. Don't say a word of this to anyone and act like nothing happened; this little incident will remain quiet in return."

"I'll try. But if people ask questions-"

"Come up with something on the spot. You're a drama kid, right? You should know how to do that. Go."

"But-"

"Go." Her voice echoed through the wind, which was most likely realized by her own magic.

Against my better judgment, I ran. I snuck into the dorms through the window and sped toward my room. I locked the door, shut the windows, and crawled under my covers.

Scared, I swore to keep a few feet from anyone I suspected to be part of that group, knowing better than to push their buttons.

... At least for now. 


End file.
